Ellen Perez (born 10 October 1995) is an Australian professional
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.
Her career-high rankings in singles and doubles are world No. 162 and No. 7, achieved in August 2019 and in April 2024, respectively.
She has won eight doubles titles on the
WTA Tour
The WTA Tour (also known as the Hologic WTA Tour for sponsorship reasons) is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women and organized by the Women's Tennis Association. The second-tier tour is the WTA 125 series, and third-tier is the ITF Wome ...
, three doubles titles on the
Challenger Tour, as well as two singles and 19 doubles titles on the
ITF Circuit.
Perez made her
major
Major most commonly refers to:
* Major (rank), a military rank
* Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits
* People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames
* Major and minor in musi ...
main-draw debut at the
2016 Australian Open
The 2016 Australian Open was a List of tennis tournaments, tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park between 18 and 31 January 2016. It was the 104th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam tourname ...
in doubles with
Belinda Woolcock; they lost in the first round to
Jessica Moore and
Storm Sanders. Perez made her first singles major appearance at the
2016 US Open, after winning the Australian Wildcard Play-off.
Personal life
Ellen is the daughter of John and Milića Perez. Ellen is of Spanish descent on her father's side and of Macedonian descent on her mother's side. She picked up a tennis racket at the age of three after receiving a
totem tennis pole as a Christmas gift, and she started regular coaching at the age of seven. In 2012, she won the Gallipoli Youth Cup held in Ipswich, Queensland.
She played three seasons of college tennis at the
University of Georgia
The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...
in the United States from 2014 to 2017.
She was named an All-American five times across singles and doubles.
Career
2012–2014: The beginnings
Perez made her debut on the
ITF Women's Circuit
The ITF Women's World Tennis Tour, previously known as the ITF Women's Circuit, is a series of professional tennis tournaments run by the International Tennis Federation for female professional tennis players.
History
It serves as a developmenta ...
in March 2012 in Bundaberg, losing in three sets to
Jennifer Elie
Jennifer Elie (born September 22, 1986) is an American former professional tennis player.
She has career-high WTA rankings of 219 in singles, achieved June 2017, and 237 in doubles, set in May 2013. Elie has won two singles titles and six dou ...
. In September 2013, she recorded her first main-draw singles win in Toowoomba after qualifying. Perez reached the quarterfinals losing to
Azra Hadzic. In December 2013, she won her first ITF doubles title in Hong Kong with
Abbie Myers.
In 2014, Perez reached the quarterfinal of the
Burnie International
The Burnie International is a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hardcourts. It is currently part of the ATP Challenger Tour and the ITF Women's Circuit. It is a $75k level tournament for the Challenger Tour and a $60,000 level tourn ...
and Melbourne, and then competed on the ITF Circuit in Europe until June when she started attending college in the United States. Perez ended 2014 with a singles rank of 655 and a doubles rank of 517.
2015–2016: First major appearance
In June 2015, Perez returned to play at Bethany Beach where she qualified and reached the singles quarterfinals and the doubles final. The following week in Charlotte, she reached the doubles final. She played ITF events across U.S. for the remainder of 2015.
Perez started her 2016 season in June in U.S. without qualifying for the main draw. In July, she qualified for and won her first singles
ITF title in Brussels without dropping a set. She reached a semifinal and final at two subsequent events. Perez won four doubles titles in five weeks across June and July 2016.
In August, Perez won the Australian Wildcard Play-off to make her major singles debut at the
US Open where she lost to
Zhang Shuai
Zhang Shuai ( zh , s = 张帅 , p = Zhāng Shuài ; ; born 21 January 1989) is a Chinese professional tennis player. She has a career-high doubles WTA rankings, ranking of world No. 2, achieved in July 2022 and a singles ranking of No. 22 re ...
, in straight sets. Perez said of the experience "It definitely didn't go as planned, or as hoped, but it was great to be able to have my Grand Slam debut and get out on court in front of all the fans and what-not. It was nice." She ended 2016 with a singles rank of 632 and doubles rank of 414.
2017–2018: First WTA Tour match win
Perez began the season with a wildcard into the
Sydney International
The Sydney International (formerly known as the Championship of New South Wales and New South Wales Open, with various title sponsors), formerly sponsored as the Apia International Sydney from 2012 to 2017, was a professional tennis tournament ...
qualifying where she defeated
Kateryna Kozlova, ranked 101 in the world. She lost to
Naomi Broady
Naomi Broady ( ; born 28 February 1990) is a British former tennis player.
She won one WTA Tour doubles title, as well as nine singles titles and 20 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. On 7 March 2016, she reached her best singles ranki ...
in the second round. At the
Australian Open qualifying, Perez defeated
Tadeja Majerič, then lost to
Ana Bogdan
Ana Bogdan (born 25 November 1992) is a Romanian professional tennis player. Having made her tour debut in 2009, she peaked at No. 39 in the WTA rankings in July 2023.
Bogdan had a successful junior career, reaching world No. 2 on 5 January 20 ...
.
She returned to play in June and reached three consecutive doubles finals, winning one. Doubles success continued throughout the rest of the year. In July, Perez qualified for and reached the singles final of Gatineau. This increased her singles ranking to a career-high of 363. Perez returned to Australia and reached the semifinals of Toowoomba and quarterfinals of Cairns.
Perez began the 2018 season, after being given wildcard into the
Sydney International
The Sydney International (formerly known as the Championship of New South Wales and New South Wales Open, with various title sponsors), formerly sponsored as the Apia International Sydney from 2012 to 2017, was a professional tennis tournament ...
where she upset world No. 11,
Kristina Mladenovic
Kristina "Kiki" Mladenovic (born 14 May 1993) is a French professional tennis player and a former List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 in doubles. Her best singles ranking is world No. 10.
She is a nine-time Grand Slam ...
, in the first round. Her first win on the
WTA Tour
The WTA Tour (also known as the Hologic WTA Tour for sponsorship reasons) is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women and organized by the Women's Tennis Association. The second-tier tour is the WTA 125 series, and third-tier is the ITF Wome ...
came when Mladenovic retired with the score 4–6, 2–4. Perez lost in round two to
Ashleigh Barty
Ashleigh Jacinta Barty (born 24 April 1996) is an Australian former professional tennis player and cricketer. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Assoc ...
.
At the Australian Open, Perez lost in the first round of
qualifying to
Valentini Grammatikopoulou
Valentini Grammatikopoulou (; born 9 February 1997) is a Greek tennis player. On 22 August 2022, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 143. On 15 July 2024, she peaked at No. 97 in the WTA doubles rankings. She has won a singles and ...
. She made the second round at the
Burnie International
The Burnie International is a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hardcourts. It is currently part of the ATP Challenger Tour and the ITF Women's Circuit. It is a $75k level tournament for the Challenger Tour and a $60,000 level tourn ...
,
Launceston International and at Perth, and then reached the final of the
Clay Court International in April, losing to
Jaimee Fourlis. Perez traveled to Europe and North America's ITF Circuit with limited success. In September, she attempted to qualify for two WTA tournaments in Asia before returning to Australia in October where she reached four consecutive ITF finals.
2019–2021: Three career titles, Olympics debut and quarterfinals in doubles
Perez commenced 2021 retiring in the first round of the
Grampians Trophy. She made the second round of qualifying in both
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 ...
and
Adelaide International. In March, she won the
Abierto Zapopan in doubles with
Astra Sharma, it was her second WTA Tour title.
In May, Perez reached the third and final round of 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 ...
qualifying. In June, she qualified for
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* W ...
but lost in the first round to fellow qualifier
Clara Burel.
In July, Perez partnered
Samantha Stosur
Samantha Jane Stosur (born 30 March 1984) is an Australian former professional tennis player. She is a former List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 in doubles, a ranking which she first achieved on 6 February 2006 and ...
in women's doubles at the
2020 Olympic Games
The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...
, where they reached the quarterfinals. In the same month, Perez entered the final of an ITF event in Lisbon, Portugal. In October, she reached another ITF final in Portugal. She won her third title at the
2021 Tenerife Ladies Open with
Ulrikke Eikeri. Perez ended 2021 with a singles rank of 196 and a doubles rank of 42.
2022: US Open semifinal, Wimbledon quarterfinal, two WTA 1000 finals & top 30
Perez lost in the first round of the
Australian Open qualifying.
She reached the quarterfinals at
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* W ...
, having never won a match before at this major, and back-to-back WTA 1000 finals at the
Canadian Open and the
Cincinnati Open with
Nicole Melichar.
Perez also reached the
US Open semifinals for the first time, having never get past the third round at this major, where she and Melichar lost to third seeded Czech duo of Krejcikova and Siniakova.
2023–2025: French Open semifinal, WTA Finals debut and finalist, world No. 8
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 ...
, with
Nicole Melichar-Martinez, Perez reached the quarterfinals for the first time, having never previously progressed beyond the second round at this major. With her win over protected ranking pair of
Sara Sorribes Tormo
Sara Sorribes Tormo (; born 8 October 1996) is a Spanish professional tennis player. She achieved her career-high singles WTA rankings, ranking of world No. 32 on 7 February 2022 and No. 17 in doubles on 6 May 2024. She has won two singles titl ...
and
Marie Bouzková, she became the 21st Australian woman to advance to a Roland Garros semifinal in doubles in the
Open Era
The racket sport traditionally named lawn tennis, invented in Edgbaston, Warwickshire, England, now commonly known simply as tennis, is the direct descendant of what is now denoted real tennis or royal tennis, which continues to be played today a ...
.
She qualified for the
2023 WTA Finals and reached the final with Melichar-Martinez, a first time at this level for both players. They lost to
Laura Siegemund
Laura Natalie Siegemund (born 4 March 1988) is a German professional tennis player.
Siegemund reached her career-high doubles ranking of world No. 4 on 29 January 2024 and has won fourteen doubles titles on the WTA Tour.
She is a three-time Gran ...
and
Vera Zvonareva
Vera Igorevna Zvonareva ( rus, Вера Игоревна Звонарёва, p=ˈvʲerə ˈiɡərʲɪvnə zvənɐˈrʲɵvə, a=Vera zvonareva.ogg; born 7 September 1984) is a Russian former professional tennis player. Her career-high singles ran ...
in the championship match.
She reached her fourth WTA 1000 final at the
2024 Dubai Tennis Championships with Melichar-Martinez, losing to fourth seeds
Storm Hunter and
Kateřina Siniaková
Kateřina Siniaková (; born 10 May 1996) is a Czech professional tennis player. She is the current List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 in doubles. She also has a best singles WTA rankings, ranking of No. 27 by the W ...
. As top seeds, they won the
2024 Bad Homburg Open, defeating
Chan Hao-ching
Chan Hao-ching (; ; born September 19, 1993), also known as Angel Chan, is a Taiwanese professional tennis player. She is primarily a doubles specialist, having won twenty-one WTA Tour, two WTA Challenger and six ITF titles in that discipline. ...
and
Veronika Kudermetova
Veronika Eduardovna Kudermetova (born 24 April 1997) is a Russian professional tennis player.
She has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 9, achieved on 24 October 2022, and a best WTA doubles ranking of No. 2, reached on 6 June 2022. In ...
in the final.
The pair reached the quarterfinals at the
2024 US Open with a straight-sets victory against the 11th seeds Sorribes Tormo and Bouzková, marking their best result at a major since Roland Garros in the previous year, when they progressed to the semifinals.
Perez and Melichar-Martinez qualified for the
2024 WTA Finals and reached the semifinals, after compiling a record of two wins and one loss in the group stages. They lost in the last four to second seeds
Gabriela Dabrowski and
Erin Routliffe
Erin Hope Routliffe (born 11 April 1995) is a New Zealand professional tennis player who previously represented Canada. She became world No. 1 in doubles on 15 July 2024.
Routliffe won a major doubles title at the 2023 US Open partnering Gabri ...
in straight sets.
In 2025, at the start of the Middle East swing she lifted the title in
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...
, partnering
Jelena Ostapenko. As a result, she returned to the top 10 in the doubles rankings on 10 February 2025.
[ ]
Performance timelines
''Only main-draw results in WTA Tour, Grand Slam tournaments, Fed Cup/Billie Jean King Cup and Olympic Games are included in win–loss records.''
Singles
''Current through the
2023 Guadalajara Open.''
Doubles
''Current through the
2025 Miami Open.''
Mixed doubles
Significant finals
Year-end championships
Doubles: 1 (runner-up)
WTA 1000 tournaments
Doubles: 4 (4 runner-ups)
WTA Tour finals
Doubles: 23 (8 titles, 15 runner-ups)
WTA Challenger finals
Doubles: 3 (3 titles)
ITF Circuit finals
Singles: 11 (2 titles, 9 runner–ups)
Doubles: 29 (19 titles, 10 runner–ups)
Notes
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Perez, Ellen
1995 births
Living people
Australian female tennis players
Australian people of Spanish descent
Australian people of Macedonian descent
Sportspeople from Wollongong
Tennis players from New South Wales
Georgia Bulldogs women's tennis players
Australian expatriate tennis players in the United States
Olympic tennis players for Australia
Tennis players at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Tennis players at the 2024 Summer Olympics
21st-century Australian sportswomen
Sportswomen from New South Wales