Claire Liu

Claire Liu (born May 25, 2000) is an American professional tennis player. On 30 January 2023, she reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 52.

Liu has won one singles title and one doubles title on the WTA Challenger Tour as well as six titles in singles and one doubles title on the ITF Women's Circuit.

In 2017, she was the world No. 1 in the junior rankings, after winning the Wimbledon girls' singles title, and finishing runner-up at the French Open. Liu also won a junior Grand Slam doubles title at Wimbledon with Usue Arconada in 2016.

Personal life

Liu grew up in Thousand Oaks, California. Both her parents are Chinese immigrants. In 2023, she began maintaining a blog that recounts her experiences on the professional tennis tour and personal life.

Career

Juniors

Grand Slam results - Singles:
* Australian Open: –
* French Open: F (2017)
* Wimbledon: W (2017)
* US Open: 2R (2013, 2016)

Grand Slam results - Doubles:
* Australian Open: –
* French Open: QF (2017)
* Wimbledon: W (2016)
* US Open: QF (2016)

Liu won the Wimbledon junior doubles tournament in 2016 with fellow American Usue Maitane Arconada, defeating Mariam Bolkvadze and Caty McNally in the final, in straight sets. The following year, after losing the French Open junior final to Whitney Osuigwe, she came back to win the Wimbledon singles title against Ann Li, making her the first American girl to win the event since Chanda Rubin in 1992. With this Grand Slam success, Liu rose to world No. 1 in the girls' junior rankings.

2015: First professional title, mixed doubles major debut

She won her first professional title in March 2015, at an Orlando clay-court tournament on the ITF Women's Circuit. At age 14, Liu was the youngest tennis player to win a professional tournament since Anna Kournikova in 1996.

On her debut at the US Open, Liu was granted a wildcard into the qualifying tournament. She beat Verónica Cepede Royg and ninth seed Jana Čepelová in her first two matches, before losing to the 26th seed, Alexandra Panova, in the final round. Liu, alongside Taylor Fritz, was also given a wildcard for the mixed-doubles draw; they were defeated in the first round by the fourth seeds and eventual champions, Martina Hingis and Leander Paes.

2017: Grand Slam debut in singles and doubles

After securing two ITF tournament wins in 2017, Liu was granted again a wildcard into the qualifying for the US Open. She defeated all three of her opponents in the qualifying tournament, earning her a spot in the singles main draw of a Grand Slam championship for the first time. There, she was defeated in the first round, in straight sets by Duan Yingying.

In their doubles main-draw debut at a major, Liu and Taylor Johnson lost in the first round of the US Open.

2018: First Grand Slam match win

At the 2018 Wimbledon Championships, Liu advanced to the main draw by winning all of her qualifying matches. She lost in the second round to the eventual champion Angelique Kerber. Liu was the only player in the tournament to win a set against Kerber.

2019–2021: Top 100 debut

In October 2019, Liu won her fourth title on the ITF Circuit at a $25k tournament in Florence, South Carolina.
After finishing as a runner-up in two tournaments in 2020 and another two in 2021, Liu won consecutive tournaments in May 2021 at the $60k event in Charlottesville, Virginia and the $100k Charleston Pro Tennis. As a result, she entered the top 100 on 23 August 2021.

2022: Maiden Tour final, first top-10 win

In May, Liu reached her maiden WTA Tour final in Rabat, losing to Martina Trevisan who was also a first-time tour finalist. As a result, she reached the top 75 on 23 May 2022.

She made it through to the semifinals at the Jasmin Open in Monastir, Tunisia, defeating seventh seed Kateřina Siniaková in the second round and top seed Ons Jabeur in the quarterfinals for her first win over a top-10 ranked player. Her run was ended in the last four by fifth seed and eventual champion Elise Mertens.

2023: WTA 1000 third round, Chicago Challenger final

At the Australian Open, Liu overcame Madison Brengle to reach the second round where she lost to 12th seed Belinda Bencic.

She reached the third round of a WTA 1000 for the first time at the 2
Miami Open defeating Kateřina Siniaková by retirement and lucky loser Julia Grabher before she lost to 25th seed Martina Trevisan.

At the Italian Open, Liu got the better of wildcard Camilla Rosatello in a first round match that went to three sets, before losing to 32nd seed Marta Kostyuk. She reached the second round at the French Open thanks to a win over qualifier Ylena In-Albon, but lost to top seed and eventual champion Iga Świątek.

Liu defeated alternate Oana Gavrilă and Irina Khromacheva at the Swedish Open to set up a quarterfinal meeting with Louisa Chirico which she lost in three sets. The following week at the Hungarian Open, gained revenge by defeating Louisa Chirico in the first round, before recording wims over fourth seed Yulia Putintseva and eighth seed Anna Karolína Schmiedlová to reach the semifinals where she lost to Kateryna Baindl.

Wins over Irina Fetecău, Storm Hunter, sixth seed Rebeka Masarova and Cristina Bucșa, saw Liu make it through to the final at the Chicago Challenger where she lost to Viktoriya Tomova.

She reached the quarterfinals at the Korea Open, defeating qualifier Ku Yeon-woo and seventh seed Arantxa Rus. She lost in the last eight to top seed and eventual champion Jessica Pegula.

2024: Miami Open second round

Liu qualified for the Miami Open and defeated Petra Martić, before losing to 10th seed Daria Kasatkina by retiring.

She also qualified for the Charleston Open but lost her main-draw match to wildcard Shelby Rogers.

In May 2024, Liu won the ITF tournament in Saint-Gaudens, France, defeating Séléna Janicijevic in the final. Later that month she lost in the first round of qualifying for the French Open to Veronika Erjavec in three sets.

Liu took the rest of the season off for a mental health break.

2025: Comeback

Seven months after her previous match, Liu returned to competitive tennis at the ITF W75 event in Nonthaburi, Thailand, in January, reaching the semifinals before withdrawing due to a neck problem.

She qualified for the WTA 1000 tournament in Indian Wells in March, but lost to Polina Kudermetova in the first round. Liu also qualified for the Miami Open, but again was eliminated in the first round, this time by Linda Fruhvirtová.

Performance timelines

''Only main-draw results in WTA Tour, Grand Slam tournaments, Billie Jean King Cup, United Cup, Hopman Cup and Olympic Games are included in win–loss records.''

Singles

''Current through the 2023 Tunis Open.''

Doubles

''Current through the 2023 Wimbledon Championships.''

WTA Tour finals

Singles: 1 (runner-up)

WTA Challenger finals

Singles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

Doubles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

ITF Circuit finals

Singles: 11 (7 titles, 4 runner–ups)

Doubles: 1 (title)

Junior Grand Slam tournament finals

Girls' singles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner–up)

Girls' doubles: 1 (title)

Head-to-head records

Record against top 10 players

* She has a 1–8 () record against players who were, at the time the match was played, ranked in the top 10.

Notes

References

External links

*
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liu, Claire
2000 births
Living people
American female tennis players
Sportspeople from Thousand Oaks, California
Tennis players from California
Wimbledon junior champions
Grand Slam (tennis) champions in girls' singles
Grand Slam (tennis) champions in girls' doubles
American sportswomen of Chinese descent
American tennis players of Chinese descent
21st-century American sportswomen