Hailey Baptiste is a 20-year-old American tennis pro. She recently participated in the Citi Open where she was ousted in the first round by top seed Jessica Pegula in straight sets.
Hailey Baptiste reached a career-high ranking of No. 38 on the junior tour. She achieved this feat on January 29, 2018. She narrowly missed out on the US Open junior doubles title as she lost in the final in 2018.
Baptiste’s WTA Tour main-draw debut came at the 2019 Washington Open. She produced a huge upset defeating Grand Slam finalist Madison Keys in the first round. The youngster has won three singles titles on the ITF Women’s circuit.
She received coaching from Peter Lucassen at the USTA National Campus in Orlando. At a very young age, she had the privilege to meet the legendary Williams sisters and even had a hit with them.
Her highest WTA singles ranking of world No. 119 was achieved on March 7, 2022. She is currently ranked world No. 148.
The hardships that Hailey Baptiste has encountered
The talented youngster, Hailey Baptiste has no sponsorships at the moment. She has had to dig deep and make many adjustments to tackle her financial woes.
She has had to take flights at odd hours and share hotel rooms with other players. Baptiste has not been able to train with a fixed coach on a regular basis and also had to skip meals every now and then.
Out of the $175,288 earned by her before taxes in 2022, $130,000 have been spent to keep up with her necessary expenses. Addressing the difficult situation, Baptiste told The Washington Post: “Don’t get me wrong — I’m blessed to be a professional tennis player — but it’s impossible not to look at other sports and think about what life as a top-150 player would be like,” Baptiste said. “I chose this sport and I understand that you have to win to make money, so don’t think I’m out here looking for sympathy or anything. [I’m] just telling you the reality of the sport.”
We hope things fall in place soon for Baptiste and we see the best of her on the tennis court.
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