| Country (sports) |  United States |
|---|---|
| Born | (1997-12-17)December 17, 1997 (age 27) Williamston, Michigan, U.S. |
| Height | 5 ft 6 in (168 cm) |
| Plays | Right-handed (two-handed backhand) |
| College | North Carolina (2016–2021) |
| Prize money | $54,620 |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 138–85 |
| Career titles | 3ITF |
| Highest ranking | No. 430 (13 October 2025) |
| Current ranking | No. 456 (June 9, 2025) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 42–49 |
| Career titles | 2 ITF |
| Highest ranking | No. 524 (February 26, 2024) |
| Current ranking | No. 686 (June 9, 2025) |
| Last updated on: June 9, 2025. | |
Sara Daavettila (born December 17, 1997) is an American professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking by theWomen's Tennis Association (WTA) of 444, achieved on 14 April 2025, and doubles ranking of 524, achieved on 26 February 2024.
Born in Michigan to a former college player, she had a successful junior career. She went undefeated in two seasons of high school tennis. She played five years of college tennis for theNorth Carolina Tar Heels, reaching a peakNCAADivision I singles ranking ofNo. 1. She reached at least the quarterfinals of theNCAA Championships three times. Since turning professional she has played on theITF Women's World Tennis Tour, where she has won two singles titles and one doubles title.
Daavettila grew up inWilliamston, Michigan, the oldest of six siblings.[1] She started playing tennis at age three or four.[2][3] Her mother, who played college tennis atWestern Michigan University, coached her from a young age.[1][4] She performed well atUnited States Tennis Association (USTA) events as a junior, winning ten national titles and more than twenty USTA Midwest titles.[1][5]
Homeschooled until tenth grade, Daavettila enrolled inWilliamston High School, in Division 3 of theMichigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA), for her sophomore year in 2013–14. She said she did so partly to have a chance to play her friend, senior Alexandria Najarian ofCranbrook Kingswood, before she left for college at theUniversity of Michigan. Daavettila went undefeated in seventeen matches on her way to the state championship final, where she faced Najarian, the three-time defending champion. Daavettila won6–2, 6–1, handing Najarian the only defeat of her high school career.[2][6]
Daavettila played again for the Williamston Hornets in 2014–15. Having not lost aset as a sophomore, she did not lose agame her entire junior season in twenty-four matches, becoming the first high school player to do so, and defended her state championship.[7][8][5] She returned to homeschooling her senior year to have more time for USTA competitions.[4] She verbally committed to theUniversity of North Carolina by early 2015 and signed a letter of intent in November 2015.[3][5] She was considered the top recruit of the class of 2016.[9][10]
Daavettila began playing for theNorth Carolina Tar Heels as theIntercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA)'s top-ranked incoming freshman of 2016–17.[11] She won the ITA Carolina Regionals singles title in the fall of 2016.[12] She played mostly atNo. 2 singles in the regular season, going 20–7 to help North Carolina win theAtlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Championship, and was named ACC Freshman of the Year. She reached the quarterfinals of theNCAA Championships in singles, finishing the season rankedNo. 14 in singles with an overall record of 43–11.[9][13]
Daavettila went 29–12 in singles in her sophomore season in 2017–18. She helped North Carolina win the ITA Team Indoor Championship, being named most outstanding player, and defend the ACC Championship.[9][14] She and teammateAlle Sanford reached the semifinals of theNCAA Championships in doubles, having entering the event as an alternate.[15] North Carolina again defended the ACC Championship in her junior season in 2018–19 and reached the semifinals of theNCAA Championships as a team. Daavettila again won the ITA Carolina Regionals singles title and made the quarterfinals of the NCAA singles tournament, finishing the year with a singles record of 32–8 and ranked atNo. 12.[9][16]
Daavettila won the ITA National Fall Championships singles title in the fall of 2019–20, beatingNo. 1Estela Perez-Somarriba ofMiami in the semifinals andAnna Turati ofTexas in the final.[17] She went 23–2 in singles and 13–5 in doubles to rankNo. 5 in singles andNo. 4 in doubles withAlexa Graham at the end of the pandemic-shortened season.[9][18] This season and next season, she was again named most outstanding player at the ITA Team Indoor Championships, helping North Carolina win consecutive indoor titles in 2020 and 2021.[9] She reached theNo. 1 singles ranking in April 2021 as she went 22–2 in her final season.[9] North Carolina, on a 48-match winning streak, won the ACC Championship but were upset in the semifinals of theNCAA Championships, where Daavettila made the NCAA singles semifinals.[9][19][20] Her college career ended rankedNo. 3 in singles and doubles, and she received the ACC Player of the Year Award and theHonda Sports Award as the nation's top college tennis player.[9][21] She graduated with abachelor's degree incommunication studies in May 2021.[9]
Daavettila debuted on theITF Women's World Tennis Tour in 2013 at age 15.[22] She was selected to the USTA Collegiate Summer Team in mid-2021.[23] She reached her first ITF doubles final at a W15 tournament in San Diego, California, in June 2022, partnering former North Carolina teammateMakenna Jones, and reached her first ITF singles final at a W15 event inChampaign, Illinois, in November 2022.[22] She won her first professional titles at the next year's W15 event in San Diego in June 2023, where she won in singles and doubles withKatherine Hui.[24]
| Legend |
|---|
| W15 tournaments |
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 0–1 | Nov 2022 | ITF Champaign, United States | W15 | Hard |  Tian Fangran | 1–6, 3–6 |
| Win | 1–1 | Jun 2023 | ITF San Diego, United States | W15 | Hard |  Chanel Simmonds | 7–6(3), 7–5 |
| Loss | 1–2 | Apr 2024 | ITF Monastir, Tunisia | W15 | Hard |  Hina Inoue | 6–2, 6–7(2), 4–6 |
| Win | 2–2 | Jun 2024 | ITF San Diego, United States | W15 | Hard | Maya Iyengar | 6–0, 6–0 |
| Loss | 2–3 | Jun 2024 | ITF San Diego, United States | W15 | Hard | Fiona Crawley | 4–6, 6–1, 3–6 |
| Loss | 2–4 | Nov 2024 | ITF Clemson, United States | W15 | Hard | Emma Charney | 6–7(4), 6–7(3) |
| Win | 3–4 | Feb 2025 | ITF Monastir, Tunisia | W15 | Hard | Alexis Blokhina | 7–5, 4–3 ret. |
| Legend |
|---|
| W15 tournaments |
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 0–1 | Jun 2022 | ITF San Diego, United States | W15 | Hard | Makenna Jones |  Bunyawi Thamchaiwat Yang Ya-yi | 3–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 1–1 | Jun 2023 | ITF San Diego, United States | W15 | Hard | Katherine Hui | Malaika Rapolu Anita Sahdiieva | 7–6(4), 6–4 |
| Win | 2–1 | Nov 2024 | ITF Clemson, United States | W15 | Hard | Makenna Jones |  Olivia Bergler Sophia Biolay | 6–0, 6–2 |
| Loss | 2–2 | Feb 2025 | ITF Monastir, Tunisia | W15 | Hard |  Martha Matoula | Guo MeiqiXiao Zhenghua | 6–4, 6–7(5), [8–10] |
| Loss | 2–2 | Mar 2025 | ITF Montreal, Canada | W15 | Hard (i) | Sabastiani Leon |  Raphaëlle LacasseChristina McHale | 5–7, 1–6 |
