ASIAN-AMERICAN SPOTLIGHT: CLAIRE LIU

In honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month this May, USTA.com is celebrating up-and-coming Asian-American players who are looking to make their mark in tennis.
 

Here’s a look at 17-year-old California native Claire Liu.

• Liu is ranked No. 3 in the ITF World Junior Rankings and No. 185 in the WTA rankings. The former top-ranked junior is currently the second-ranked American girl behind only Whitney Osuigwe.
  
  
• Last summer, Liu won the girls’ singles title at Wimbledon. She defeated fellow American Ann Li in the final, 6-2, 5-7, 6-2, in the second-ever all-American girls’ championship match.
  
  
• Overall in 2017, Liu won 23 of 24 singles matches at the junior level, her only loss coming to Osuigwe in the French Open girls' singles final. In addition to her performances at the junior Grand Slams, she also captured the girls' 18s title at the Easter Bowl for the second time in three years.
  
  
• The teenager has played in nine ITF and WTA events in 2018. Her best showing came last month in Charleston, S.C., where she made the second round as a qualifier. In the first round of the main draw, Liu rallied to beat world No. 69 Magda Linette of Poland for her first Top-100 win.
  
  
• At the 2017 US Open, Liu came through qualifying to reach the main draw of a Grand Slam for the first time in her career. She also played in the first round of the women’s doubles event with Taylor Johnson. In 2015, Liu played in the US Open Qualifying Tournament – where she advanced to the final round – and in the main draw of the mixed doubles competition with Taylor Fritz.
  
  
• Liu, who will turn 18 later this month, has won three ITF titles, all on clay. She captured her first pro title at the $10,000 USTA Pro Circuit event in Orlando, Fla., in 2015 at the age of 14. She then claimed two trophies two weeks apart in Naples, Fla., and Caserta, Italy, in 2017.