Annika Penickova (born September 11, 2009) is an American

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

player. She has a career-high ITF junior combined ranking of No. 16, achieved on March 3, 2025. She and her identical twin sister,

Kristina Penickova Kristina Penickova (born September 11, 2009) is an American tennis player. She has a career-high ITF junior combined ranking of No. 3, achieved on January 27, 2025. She and her identical twin sister, Annika Penickova, won the girls' doubles ti ...

, won the girls' doubles title at the

2025 Australian Open The 2025 Australian Open was a Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam level tennis tournament held at Melbourne Park from 12 to 26 January 2025. It was the 113th edition of the Australian Open, the 57th in the Open Era, and the first Grand Slam (tenn ...

Early life

Penickova was born in

Campbell, California Campbell is a city in Santa Clara County, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. Census, Campbell's population is 43,959. Campbell is home to the Pruneyard Shopping Center, a sprawling open-ai ...

, to Tomáš Pěnička and Olga Hostáková. Her parents are both former tennis players from the Czech Republic; her father was ranked as high as No. 884 by the ATP. Her uncle is former Czech

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player

Martin Hosták Martin Hosták (born November 11, 1967) is a retired Czech professional ice hockey player. He played 55 games in the National Hockey League with the Philadelphia Flyers during the 1990–91 and 1991–92 seasons. The rest of his career, which la ...

. Her grandparents live in

Hradec Králové Hradec Králové (; ) is a city of the Czech Republic. It has about 94,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Hradec Králové Region. The historic centre of Hradec Králové is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech R ...

. Her identical twin sister, Kristina, also plays tennis. Both sisters are coached by their father. They began their careers at Bay Club Courtside in

Los Gatos, California Los Gatos (; ; ) is an List of municipalities in California, incorporated town in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population is 33,529 according to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is located in the San Franc ...

, and currently live and train at the

USTA National Campus The USTA National Campus is a tennis training center and tournament venue in Lake Nona, Orlando, Florida. Owned by the United States Tennis Association (USTA), it houses 100 tennis courts, a strength and conditioning center, and a dormitory. H ...

Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...

Junior career

In February 2023, Penickova and her sister reached the doubles semifinals of the Petits As. Later that year, she competed in the girls' 14&U singles tournament of the

Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly called Wimbledon, is a tennis tournament organised by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in collaboration with the Lawn Tennis Association annually in Wimbledon, London. It is chronologically the ...

and was selected to represent the United States at the ITF World Junior Championship in

Prostějov Prostějov (; ) is a city in the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 43,000 inhabitants. The city is historically known for its fashion industry. The historic city centre is well preserved and is protected as an urban monument zo ...

. In September 2023, she and her sister reached the girls' doubles quarterfinals of the US Open. In September 2024, she reached the girls' singles quarterfinals of the US Open, upsetting fifth seed Jeline Vandromme in the process. Later that year, she and her sister participated in the Garden Cup, an exhibition at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

. In January 2025, she and her sister reached the girls' doubles final of the

Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...

, where they won the title in straight sets over Emerson Jones and Hannah Klugman. At the

French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...

, she and her sister reached the girls' doubles semifinals.

Professional career

In May 2025, Penickova won her first professional doubles title at the W15 Magic Hotel Tours series in Monastir, partnering her sister and defeating Arina Arifullina and Inês Murta in the final.

ITF Circuit finals

Doubles: 2 (2 titles)

Junior Grand Slam finals

Doubles: 1 (1 title)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Penickova, Annika 2009 births Living people American female tennis players American identical twins American people of Czech descent Australian Open (tennis) junior champions Grand Slam (tennis) champions in girls' doubles Sportspeople from Campbell, California Tennis players from California