Renata Zarazúa Ruckstuhl (Latin American Spanish:[reˈnatasaɾaˈsu.a]; born 30 September 1997) is a Mexican tennis player. She reached a best singles ranking of world No. 72 on 7 October 2024, and she peaked at No. 135 in the doubles rankings on 8 October 2018.
She has won one singles and one doubles titles on the WTA Challenger Tour.
On the ITF Circuit, she has won four titles in singles and seventeen in doubles.
In 2020, she qualified for the main draw of the French Open, her Grand Slam debut becoming the first Mexican female tennis player to compete in the main draw of a Major in 20 years.[1] On the WTA Tour, her biggest result to date was reaching the semifinals of the 2020 Mexican Open.
Playing for Mexico, Zarazúa has a win–loss record of 15–12 in BJK Cup competition (as of August 2024).
Early life and background
Zarazúa was born on 30 September 1997 to Jose Luis and Alejandra in Mexico City. She also has an older brother named Patricio, who is a former college tennis player for Palm Beach Atlantic University. Her great-uncle Vicente Zarazúa, a Mexican pro tennis player, participated in 16 Davis Cup ties for Mexico and claimed gold medals in exhibition doubles at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City.[2][3] During an interview at the 2020 French Open, Zarazúa stated that Simona Halep is the player she admires the most.[4]
Career
2016-2019: WTA Tour debut
Zarazúa made her WTA Tour singles debut at the 2016 Brasil Cup, after she reached the main draw through qualifying.
2020: WTA Tour semifinal, major debut and first win
In late February 2020, Zarazúa received a wildcard to play again at the Mexican Open in Acapulco, where she reached her first WTA Tour singles semifinal. In the first round, she upset top-seeded Sloane Stephens. She became the first Mexican woman to play a tour semifinal since 1993.[5]
In September 2020, she qualified for the main draw of the French Open, her first appearance at a Grand Slam. Zarazúa was the first Mexican woman in a Grand Slam main draw in 20 years. [6] She recorded her first Major win over wildcard Elsa Jacquemot before losing in the second round to third seed Elina Svitolina.
2021-2024: Olympics, Wimbledon and US Open debuts, WTA 125 title, top 75
In 2021, she qualified for the Olympic Games in singles and in doubles, partnering Giuliana Olmos both making their Olympics debut.
She reached the top 100 on 8 January 2024, and became the second Mexican player after Angelica Gavaldon in 1996, to reach the milestone.[8][9] The following week, she qualified for the 2024 Australian Open making her debut, becoming just the second Mexican woman to reach the Australian Open main draw in the Open Era, and first since two-time quarterfinalist Angelica Gavaldon's final appearance in 2000.[10]
She qualified for the Italian Open by defeating sixth qualifying seed Viktoriya Tomova making her debut at a clay WTA 1000 event.
At Wimbledon, she went out in the final qualifying round but made the main draw for the first time in her career at this major as a lucky loser, losing to Emma Raducanu in straight sets on her debut.[11]
She also made her debut at the US Open as a direct entry benefitting from the withdrawal of Sorana Cîrstea,[12] and recorded her first win at this Grand Slam with an upset over 28th seed Caroline Garcia. As a result she reached the top 85 in the singles rankings on 9 September 2024.
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.
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.[14]
^The first Premier 5 event of the year has switched back and forth between the Dubai Tennis Championships and the Qatar Ladies Open since 2009. Dubai was classified as a Premier 5 event from 2009 to 2011 before being succeeded by Doha for the 2012–2014 period. In 2015, Dubai regained its Premier 5 status while Doha was demoted to Premier status. The Premier 5 tournaments were reclassified as WTA 1000 tournaments in 2021.