Kamilla Rakhimova is a Russian tennis player who has achieved a considerable amount of success at a young age. She has especially done well in doubles and has represented Russia in the European Junior Championships and some Grand Slam tournaments as well. Kamilla Rakhimova has also set her sights on capturing the Olympic Gold for her country someday. In this post, we will find out more about her. Let’s get started.

Kamilla Rakhimova: All You Need to Know

When was Kamilla Rakhimova born?

Kamilla Stanislavovna Rakhimova began her life on August 28, 2001, in Yekaterinburg. Speaking about her ethnicity, the young tennis player mentioned in an interview that she has Tatar-Bashkir roots. Mother Rufina Rakhimova is a graduate of the Faculty of Physical Education of the Ural State Pedagogical University, her father is also an enthusiastic athlete, at one time he was an avid participant in swimming, triathlon, and shooting.

How did Kamilla Rakhimova get interested in sports?

Parents instilled in Kamilla and her older brother Timur a love of sports – both from childhood were fond of tennis, swimming, and skiing. However, Kamilla’s main passion was tennis, which the girl preferred to all other sports, and soon pleased her mentors with great results. The first coach of the athlete was her mother. Eventually, she was replaced in this post by Yulia Pilchikova, with whom Kamilla is still working.

It was difficult for Kamilla Rakhimova’s family to financially support her on the WTA tour initially and the family pumped all of its savings towards it. After a bright victory at the European Championship under 16, Rakhimova received a contract from the Russian Tennis Federation and, with the allocated money, she was able to pay for flights abroad herself.

Kamilla Rakhimova: Tennis Career

Having reached 22nd place in juniors, Kamilla decided to continue her career in adult tennis. It is noteworthy that when a promising tennis player was offered a scholarship at an American university, the girl refused, because under such conditions she would not have received money from winning tournaments, and she wanted to earn a living on her own.

Kamilla first appeared at the Grand Slam competition in 2017, where she competed in doubles and singles at Roland Garros in June, but lost both matches. A month later, at Wimbledon, she failed to perform very well, but in October, at the US Open among juniors, Rakhimova, together with Sophia Lansere, confidently reached the semifinals, where she lost to the Ukrainian-Serbian pair – Marta Kostyuk and Olga Danilovich.

Kamilla Rakhimova opened the next season in January and at the Australian Open, she made it to the quarter finals, where she lost to Taiwanese Liang Yenshuo. Rakhimova showed similar results at the French Open and Wimbledon held in the summer.

The year 2020 turned out to be more successful for the Russian woman in terms of achievements, when Kamilla Rakhimova successfully qualified for Roland Garros and for the first time in her sports biography made it to the main draw of the Grand Slam tournament. In the second round, Rakhimova beat the American Shelby Rogers in two sets, but in the next round, she could not cope with the powerful Greek Maria Sakkari.

A year later, the Yekaterinburg woman chalked up her participation in the US Open. Having successfully overcome the qualifying stage, she defeated Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic in the first round, defeated compatriot Ekaterina Alexandrova in the third round, and lost to Czech tennis player Barbora Krejchikova in the fourth round.

Kamilla Rakhimova was able to show her talents at the WTA level tournaments, where she made her debut in 2019. And although in the first two seasons, the tennis player did not go beyond the fourth round, already in 2021 Kamilla, together with Natela Dzalamidze, shone in all her glory: in February she won the doubles at the Phillip Island Trophy, in July she reached the finals of the Palermo Ladies Open, where lost to the New Zealand-Belgian pair Erin Rutliff and Kimberly Zimmerman, and in October she performed well at the VTB Kremlin Cup, reaching the semifinal match.

In November 2021, the Rakhimova/Dzalamidze duo participated at Upper Austria Ladies Linz, where they confidently defeated a Chinese duo in the final.

In 2022, Kamilla Rakhimova and Natela Dzalamidze confidently qualified for the Australian Open, but in the first round, they lost in doubles to the Japanese Shuko Aoyama and Ene Shibahara. At the French Open, Kamilla Rakhimova failed to have a deep run. In singles, she lost to Alexandra Krunic from Serbia, and in doubles with Dzalamidze, she lost to Caroline Doulhide and Storm Sanders (Hunter). Already in the summer, a native of Yekaterinburg tried to break into the main tournament draw of the Miami Open, but at the qualifying stage, she lost to American Alicia Parks.

Kamilla also showed herself brilliantly at the Istanbul Open, where she reached the final, but lost the decisive battle in doubles, and at the Transylvania Open, which ended with Rakhimova reaching the final and losing in the doubles tournament against the German-Belgian tandem Laura Siegemund and Kimberly Flipkens.

On January 16, 2023, Rakhimova performed at the Grand Slam tournament. In the first round of the Australian Open – 2023, the rival of the Russian woman was Katerina Beindl, who, as a result of a stubborn struggle, won with a score of 7-5, 6-7, 6-1.

In February, the girl managed to seize the initiative again and reach the finals of ITF Mexico 03A, where she defeated Cypriot Raluca Georgiana Serban in a three-set match. Following that,  Rakhimova participated in the Merida Open Akron, and after dropping out of the semi-finals, losing in doubles to Wang Xinyu and Fang Xian Wu, she went on to participate in the Monterrey Open Tennis Championship but only reached the quarter finals, where she lost to the Belgian Ysaline Bonaventure.

What does Kamilla Rakhimova do aside from tennis?

In her free time from training and competition, Kamilla relaxes with friends and goes to concerts of her favorite artists such as HammAli & Navai and Jony.

Since the athlete often travels and has already visited many countries, she shares a lot of photos on social networks, which feature not only picturesque beaches but also parties for participants in open tennis tournaments. Rakhimova prefers not to talk about her personal life – she devotes herself entirely to preparing for the next matches.

Kamilla Rakhimova: Career Highlights

2018 – Winner of the ITF tournament in Shymkent, Kazakhstan (paired with Anya Hertel)

2019 – Winner of the ITF tournament in Shymkent, Kazakhstan

2019 – Winner of the ITF tournament in Shymkent, Kazakhstan (paired with Vitalia Stamat)

2019 – Winner of the tournament in Fergana, Uzbekistan

2019 – Winner of the ITF tournament in Istanbul, Turkey

2019 – Winner of the ITF tournament in Penza, Russia (paired with Vlada Koval)

2019 – Winner of the Meitar Open Championship, Israel (paired with Sophia Lansere)

2020 – Winner of the Cairo Open Championship, Egypt (paired with Marta Kostyuk)

2020 – Winner of the ITF tournament in Moscow, Russia (paired with Sofya Lansere)

2021 – Winner of the Phillip Island Trophy tournament (paired with Ankita Raina)

2021 – Winner of the Linz Open Championship, Austria (paired with Natela Dzalamidze)

2022 – Winner of the Open Championship of Rouen, France (paired with Natela Dzalamidze)

2022 – Winner of the Bronx Open, USA

2022 – Winner of the Nantes Open, France

2023 – Winner of the Guanajuato Open, Mexico.