Sacha Hughes

Sacha Hughes (née Jones; born 8 November 1990) is the current New Zealand Fed Cup captain appointed May 2019 [1]. She is a former professional New Zealand and Australian tennis player who competed as Sacha Jones. Her highest WTA singles ranking was 150, which she reached on 8 October 2012. Her highest ITF junior ranking was 11 in the world. She attained the No. 1 ranking in New Zealand in 2009 and competed in the ASB Classic, New Zealand's only WTA event on seven occasions.

Sacha Hughes
Sacha Hughes at the ASB Classic in Auckland in 2014.
Country (sports) Australia (2012–2018)
 New Zealand (2005–2012)
ResidenceAuckland, New Zealand
Born (1990-11-08) 8 November 1990
Auckland, New Zealand
Height1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Turned pro2008
Retired2018
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money$193,622
Singles
Career record212–119
Career titles10 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 150 (8 October 2012)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open1R (2013)
French OpenQ1 (2011, 2012)
WimbledonQ2 (2011, 2013)
US OpenQ2 (2011)
Doubles
Career record35–37
Career titles2 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 169 (29 October 2012)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open2R (2012)

Personal life

Her father is Australian-born and her mother is a New Zealander. She has two older brothers and one older sister.

In 2014, Hughes retired from professional tennis citing a succession of injuries including three stress fractures in her ribs. Upon retiring from professional tennis she completed her private pilots license.

In 2016, Hughes co-founded a website called RealYou, with her friend Stephanie Hughes, which seeks to encourage young women to grow their inner confidence, and offers personal support for the challenges that teenagers experience. Praised for openly discussing topics such as depression and body image, Hughes talks openly about her own experiences with such subjects.

She resides in Auckland, New Zealand with her husband, Adrian Hughes.

Professional tennis career

2003

Hughes became the youngest person, female or male, to win the New Zealand 18&under National Championships at 13 years, one month. She defeated Lucy Cole in the final 6–0, 6–1.

2005

Sacha began 2005 ranked outside the top 500 juniors in the world and finished inside the top 75 thanks to winning three tournaments in a row, including the Oceania Junior Championships held in Lautoka, Fiji.

2006

In 2006, Hughes competed in all four junior grand slams, she lost in the second round of the junior Australian Open to Dominika Cibulkova, second round of junior Wimbledon to Caroline Wozniacki and the quarterfinals of the US Open to Tamira Paszek. At 16 years old she finished 2006 ranked 11 in the world junior 18&under ITF rankings.

2008

As a 17 year old, Hughes lost in Round One of the 2008 ASB Classic to second seed, Vera Zvonareva. Later in the year, Hughes teamed up with Justin Gimelstob and Serena Williams to play for the Washington Kastles World TeamTennis team.

2009

Sacha began 2009 ranked 306 in the world. In June, she won her first professional tournament in Texas, U.S. In September she embarked on a 24 match winning streak. At a tournament in Darwin, Hughes won her second title of the year, recording a win over former top-10 player Alicia Molik who was working on a comeback. Two weeks later, she won another title in Mount Gambier, defeating Molik in the final. The next week Hughes run continued in Port Pirie, where she again defeated Molik in the final. Hughes then traveled to Rock Hill, South Carolina where she won another tournament without dropping a set. The following week Hughes again raced to another final in Phoenix, but had her run snapped by Varvara Lepchenko. After this run of good form, she was ranked at a career high of 167 in the world.

2010

Hughes was set to compete in the ASB Classic but had to withdraw due to an abdominal injury.

She played at the Pattaya Open but lost in the first round to Alberta Brianti. She was able to compete only sporadically on tour for the remainder of the year due to stress fractures in her ribs.

2011

Hughes featured in the ASB Classic as a wild-card draw in which she was defeated in two tight sets by third seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in the first round. She was the hitting partner for Maria Sharapova during this tournament.

She competed in the US Open qualifying draw, losing in the second round in three sets.

2012

Hughes started off at the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand as a wildcard where she lost her first-round match to Elena Baltacha in three tight sets.

She qualified for the Moorilla International in Hobart, Australia. She won her first round at the WTA event- beating Kristina Barrois in straight sets. She lost to Shahar Pe'er in round two in an extremely tight two-setter.

At the Australian Open, Sacha partnered compatriot Bojana Bobusic to enter the Women's Doubles Event where the pair beat Līga Dekmeijere and Maria Kondratieva in the First Round. This was her first ever win at a main draw Grand Slam.

She recorded mixed results for most of 2012 including a three set win over Eugenie Bouchard to secure her spot in the French Open.

At the Gastein Ladies, Hughes won her second WTA Tour main-draw match, defeating Yuliya Beygelzimer in round one. She lost to Alizé Cornet in round two.

During the year, Sacha secured three $25,000 victories on the ITF Women's Circuit, including one title in Kristenhamm, Sweden and two in Australia.[2]

2013

Hughes made her Grand Slam singles debut at the 2013 Australian Open; she was beaten in the first round by Kristýna Plíšková. In 2013, she suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome and stress fractures in her shin, and played a limited schedule.

2014

Hughes lost at the ASB Classic to Sachie Ishizu 6–7 in the third set after holding several match points. Partnering with her best childhood friend in the doubles event at the ASB Classic they beat the top seeds, former world number one, Cara Black and New Zealand's Marina Erakovic in the opening round. She announced that the ASB Classic was her last tournament, and retired from professional tennis. Later in 2014, she won the New Zealand Women's Open in singles and in doubles.

2018: Comeback

Hughes started her comeback at the ASB Classic, where she lost in the first round of qualifying to Katie Boulter.

ITF Circuit finals
$100,000 tournaments
$75,000 tournaments
$50,000 tournaments
$25,000 tournaments
$10,000 tournaments

Singles: 15 (10–5)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Runner-up 1. 17 November 2008 ITF Manila, Philippines Hard Ayu Fani Damayanti 6–7(5–7), 2–6
Winner 2. 15 June 2009 ITF Brownsville, United States Hard Ester Goldfeld 6–3, 2–6, 6–0
Winner 3. 21 September 2009 ITF Darwin, Australia Hard Bojana Bobusic 6–4, 6–1
Winner 4. 5 October 2009 ITF Mount Gambier, Australia Hard Alicia Molik 4–6, 6–4, 6–3
Winner 5. 12 October 2009 ITF Port Pirie, Australia Hard Alicia Molik 3–6, 6–1, 7–5
Winner 6. 2 November 2009 ITF Rock Hill, United States Hard Ani Mijačika 6–0, 6–4
Runner-up 7. 15 November 2009 ITF Phoenix, United States Hard Varvara Lepchenko 0–6, 0–6
Winner 8. 20 September 2010 ITF Alice Springs, Australia Hard Ana Clara Duarte 5–7, 6–3, 6–3
Winner 9. 14 November 2010 ITF Esperance, Australia Hard Çağla Büyükakçay 6–2, 6–3
Runner-up 10. 28 November 2010 ITF Traralgon, Australia Hard Julia Glushko 6–2, 5–7, 6–7(4–7)
Runner-up 11. 20 November 2011 ITF Traralgon, Australia Hard Casey Dellacqua 5–7, 6–7(6–8)
Winner 12. 23 June 2012 ITF Kristinehamn, Sweden Clay Magda Linette 6–4, 6–4
Winner 13. 2 September 2012 ITF Cairns, Australia Hard Zhang Ling 6–0, 6–2
Runner-up 14. 9 September 2012 ITF Traralgon, Australia Hard Olivia Rogowska 6–0, 3–6, 2–6
Winner 15. 23 September 2012 ITF Traralgon, Australia Hard Olivia Rogowska 6–2, 7–5

Doubles: 4 (2–2)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Winner 1. 15 June 2009 Brownsville, United States Hard Ashley Weinhold Ester Goldfeld
Macall Harkins		 6–3, 6–3
Runner-up 2. 28 August 2009 Qianshan, China Hard Alison Bai Liang Chen
Sun Shengnan		 2–6, 4–6
Runner-up 3. 1 April 2012 Bundaberg, Australia Hard Sally Peers Shuko Aoyama
Junri Namigata		 1–6, 5–7
Winner 4. 22 September 2012 Port Pirie, Australia Hard Sally Peers Stephanie Bengson
Chanel Simmonds		 6–4, 6–2
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References
  1. "Sacha Hughes appointed NZ Fed Cup Captain". New Zealand Herald. 17 May 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  2. Harvey, Luke (24 September 2012). "Jones in Port Pirie win". ITF Pro Circuit. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
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