Ayana Akli

Ayana Akli (born July 6, 2001) is an American professional tennis player. She has career-high rankings of No. 234 in singles, achieved on April 20, 2026, and world No. 131 in doubles, achieved on May 4, 2026. She played collegiate tennis at the University of Maryland and the University of South Carolina.

Early life Akli was born in Silver Spring, Maryland, to Komi and Linda Akli. Her father is a former professional tennis player who immigrated to the United States from Togo in 1996; he was the childhood coach of Frances Tiafoe. She began playing tennis at the age of four and trained at the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park. She later received a degree in civil engineering from the University of South Carolina.

Career In 2019, Akli signed a letter of intent to play collegiate tennis for the Maryland Terrapins. Playing for the South Carolina Gamecocks, she reached career-high national rankings of No. 3 in singles and No. 10 in doubles. She also received ITA All-American and All-SEC honors and was named the SEC Women's Tennis Scholar-Athlete of the Year. In July 2024, she reached the semifinals of the Championnats de Granby as a qualifier. Later that year, she won her first professional doubles title at the W35 USTA Pro Circuit event in Redding, partnering Eryn Cayetano.

ITF Circuit finals Singles: 5 (2 titles, 3 runner-ups) Legend W75 tournaments (0–1) W35 tournaments (2–2)

Doubles: 13 (7 titles, 6 runner-ups) Legend W100 tournaments (2–1) W75 tournaments (2–1) W50 tournaments (1–1) W25/35 tournaments (2–2) W15 tournaments (0–1)