Lea Ma (born February 1, 2001) is an American 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. She played college tennis for the

Georgia Bulldogs The Georgia Bulldogs are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The offic ...

and was ranked No. 3 nationally at the end of her college career.

Early life and junior career

Ma grew up in

Dix Hills, New York Dix Hills is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP), in the Huntington, New York, Town of Huntington, on Long Island, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 26,180 at the time of the 2020 census. Hi ...

. She trained at the

USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center The USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center is a stadium complex within Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City, New York. It has been the home of the US Open Grand Slam tennis tournament, played every year in August and ...

in New York and the Junior Tennis Champions Center in Maryland before moving to

IMG Academy IMG Academy is a University-preparatory school, preparatory boarding school and sports training destination in Bradenton, Florida, United States. The organization is set across over 600 acres (243 ha) and features programs consisting of sport ca ...

in Florida in the winter of 2017–18. She played on the

International Tennis Federation The International Tennis Federation (ITF) is the governing body of world tennis, wheelchair tennis, and beach tennis. It was founded in 1913 as the International Lawn Tennis Federation by twelve national tennis associations. there are 211 nat ...

(ITF) Junior Circuit from 2014 to 2019, winning one singles title and four doubles titles, and reached a peak junior ranking of No. 19 in July 2018. At the junior Grand Slam level, she reached the round of 16 in singles at the

2018 Wimbledon Championships The 2018 Wimbledon Championships was a Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam tennis tournament which took place at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The main tournament began on Monday, 2 July 2018 and ...

and 2018 US Open and the quarterfinals in doubles at the

2019 French Open The 2019 French Open was a Grand Slam (tennis), major tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was held at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from 26 May to 9 June, comprising singles, doubles and mixed doubles play. Junior and ...

(partnering Hurricane Tyra Black). She represented the United States at the

2018 Summer Youth Olympics The 2018 Summer Youth Olympics (), officially known as the III Summer Youth Olympic Games, and commonly known as Buenos Aires 2018, were an international multi-sport event, sports, cultural, and educational event held from 6 to 18 October 2018 ...

in Buenos Aires.

College career

Ma committed to 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 June 2019. She began playing for Georgia in the fall of 2019, but the spring season was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. As a sophomore in 2020–21, she went 17–5 in singles, playing mostly in the team's spot, and was ranked nationally at the end of the season. She helped Georgia win the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

(SEC) regular season title and the SEC Championship, receiving All-SEC first team honors and being named SEC Newcomer of the Year. She finished the next season, 2021–22, with a singles record of 16–8 and a ranking of , again being named to the All-SEC first team. In October 2022, Ma won the

Intercollegiate Tennis Association The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) is the governing body and coaches' association of United States college tennis, both an advocate and authority, overseeing men's and women's varsity tennis at all levels – NCAA Division I, NCAA Divi ...

(ITA) Southeast Regionals title. She handed college player Fiona Crawley her first defeat of the season in Georgia's loss to

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

in February 2023. She went 32–8 in singles as a senior, finishing her college career with a national ranking of , and helped Georgia win the SEC Tournament and reach the NCAA Championships semifinals. She was named to the All-SEC first team and nominated for the

Honda Sports Award The Honda Sports Award is an annual award in the United States, given to the best collegiate female athlete in each of twelve sports. There are four nominees for each sport, and the twelve winners of the Honda Sports Award are automatically in t ...

for tennis.

Professional career

After graduation, Ma began regularly playing on the ITF Women's World Tennis Tour in mid-2023. She received five ITF tournament wildcards as one of the first recipients of the ITF/WTA College Accelerator Program in September 2023.

ITF Circuit finals

Singles: 1 (title)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ma, Lea Living people 2001 births People from Dix Hills, New York Tennis players from New York City American female tennis players Georgia Bulldogs women's tennis players American tennis players of Chinese descent American sportswomen of Chinese descent Tennis players at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics 21st-century American sportswomen