Yamalapalli making mark on world tour
3/2/2024 10:23:00 AM | Women's Tennis
HUNTSVILLE - Sahaja Yamalapalli, one of Sam Houston's most decorated women's tennis players, is now leaving her mark at the professional level.
The four-year Bearkat letter-winner from Hyderabad, India, currently stands as the second highest ranked player from her country in the WTA standings. That ranking could make her the first Bearkat ever to play in the Billy Jean Cup (the international competition formerly known as the Fed Cup), should India qualify for the event.
Yamalapalli stands No. 324 in the latest WTA world rankings. The only player from India with a higher rank is No. 223 Ankita Raina. The top two players from each country represent their nation in the Billy Jean Cup event.
Now 23 years old, Yamalapalli has climbed in the world rankings thanks to a victory over top seed and No. 92 ranked Kayla Day of the USA in the opening round at the Mumbai Open and a win versus top-200 performer Ekaterina Makarova.
Qualifying action for the Billy Jean Cup begins in April. The top 10Â nations from the qualifying event advance to the main draw.
"It's exciting to see one of Sam Houston's finest tennis players, and my very first recruit here, finding success in the professional ranks," Bearkat head coach Rob Hubbard said.
"Sahaja had an amazing career here. She was a talented and dedicated student-athlete with an outstanding work ethic. That is why she left a lot of records that are going to stand for quite some time here at Sam Houston. Just think of what more she could have accomplished if the spring of her junior year and fall of her senior season had not been lost to the COVID suspension."
The highlight of Yamalapalli's career came in her senior season when she led Sam Houston to its first ever NCAA Division I conference championship in 2021.
Twice voted as both Southland Conference Player of the Year and earning the league's Student-Athlete of the Year award, she posted a record of 18-0 in dual-match singles play her senior year. She did not lose a single set at the No. 1 position.
Yamalapalli's career record of 87 victories and only 21 losses in dual matches and fall tournament singles play for an .806 winning percentage also still stands as a Sam Houston school mark.
