Astra Sharma is a 29 year-old Singaporean-born Australian tennis star, born to parents of mixed nationalities and athletes. She fell in love with sports at a younger age, played both football and tennis, before fully taking up tennis in high school. While she struggled to find her footing in the earliest days of her career, she won five ITF titles including one WTA title.
Do You Know These Facts About The Singaporean-Born Australian Tennis Star?
1. She Was Born in Singapore in A Family of Athletes
Astra Sharma is the second of three children born to Devdutt Sharma and Susan Tan in Singapore on 11th September 1995. The tennis play is from a family of athletes, her father was a former high jumper and acoustic engineer and her mother was a sprinter from a CHIJ Saint Theresa’s Convent, Bukit Merah, Singapore.
According to her father, he was so passionate about sports that he played every sport that he comes across, from cricket and hockey to football and basketball. However, he didn’t excel in any of them.
Astra and her siblings, Ashwin and Tara noticed their parents’ passion for sports and fell in love with it. So, she and her older brother Ashwin decide to pursue tennis, even though they’ve experienced some setbacks along the way, they pushed through.
Her name “Astra” originates from “Astras”, a supernatural weapon of the Hindu gods. She is currently 29 years old.
2. She Has Multiple Ethnicity and Dual Citizenship
Astra has multiple ethnic backgrounds which come from her parents’ origins. Her father is an Indian with origins from Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Northern India, while her mother on the other hand is Chinese.
As regards her dual citizenship, she is first a Singaporean for being born in Singapore. And secondly, an Australian for moving to Australia with her parents and siblings in 2005 when she was 10 years old. Her parents moved the entire family to Australia so that Astra and her siblings would have better life and opportunities.
So going by these, she has both Indian and Chinese blood coursing through her veins.
3. Astra Attended High School in Australia, and University in The United States
When her family relocated to Australia, Astra was enrolled in Applecross Senior High School in Perth. In 2013, she moved to the United States where she gained admission into Vanderbilt University to take up a course in medicine. After spending five years at the university, she graduated in May 2018.
Other reports say, she first started taking up pure science courses like organic chemistry, but she couldn’t keep up due to traveling stress. That influences her to switch to medical science and health.
4. She Played Football in Her Early Days
As earlier mentioned, Astra grew up in a family of athletes, and decide to make a career out of it. In the beginning, she played both tennis and football, before switching to tennis completely while attending high school.
While in high school, she competed in a couple of ITF events, but an injury kept her out of action for some time. She went back to playing when she moved to the US for her education.
5. She Struggled During The Initial Days of Her Career, But Won Her First Title in 2015
Astra’s early career days were a struggle, after debuting on ITF Circuit in 2011. The following year, she competed in only four events but didn’t record a win in any. 2013 and 2014 came with a similar lack of success, after reaching the last 8 of an ITF tournament in Sydney and competing in three other tournaments in the US.
The year 2015 came with some measure of success for the Singaporean-born Australian tennis player. First, she reached the last eight of the three tournaments on the ITF Circuit; and won her first-ever title in Egypt in July 2015. This feat pushes her further up the singles rank of 787 at that time.
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6. Her Rankings Improved From When Started Competing on The European ITF
From 2016 to 2018, the 29 year-old tennis player competed in both singles and doubles events. The successes she recorded on both fronts helped to improve her ranking, especially for singles to 225.
These improvements came after she competed on the European ITF Circuit, and partnered with Frances Altick to win two titles doubles in July 2016. In 2017, Astra adds two more ITF titles to the first she initially won in 2015. The following year, she added two more to bring her ITF titles to five.
7. Astra Lost To Amanda Anisimova in Her First Ever WTA Final
The Singaporean-born Australian tennis made it to her first-ever WTA Tour final in April 2019, but she lost to American Amanda Anisimova at the Copa Colsanitas in Bogota, Colombia. Prior, she competed at the 2019 Australian Open after gaining a qualification in January. She beat fellow compatriot Priscilla Hon in her first-round match but lost in the second round. While she and John-Patrick Smith reached the final of the mixed doubles after beating Bruno Soares and Nicole Melichar in the semi but lost in the final to Barbora Krejcikova and Rajeev Ram.
8. She Won First-Ever WTA Title in 2021
Astra Sharma won her first-ever WTA title after defeating Tunisian, Ons Jabuer at the 2021 Charleston Open in Charleston, South Carolina. Prior to Charleston, she competed at the Gippsland Trophy in Australia but lost in the first round.
After her Charleston win, she competed on other WTA tours such as the French Open, Wimbledon, Canadian Open, Cincinnati Masters, and the US Open. She didn’t go beyond the first round in all these tournaments, except the French Open where she made it to the second round. It may have been a disappointment, but her singles and doubles rankings went up to 98 and 107 respectively.
9. She is Earning Decently From Her Tennis Career
Whatever money she makes comes from her professional tennis career. She and her family seem to live modestly as they are neither rich nor poor. As regards her net worth, she is estimated to be around $1 million rich.
As of March 2022, she has a career prize money of almost $1.3 million. If she continues playing and winning, she would earn more and that would reflect in her net worth’s growth.
10. How Tall is She?
The Singaporean-born Australian tennis star is 5 feet 10 inches (1.78m) tall and weighs 63kg (139Ibs). For a woman, she is above average in height. This is further complemented by her slim body figure, her set of dark-brown eyes, and dark hair.
Complete profile of Astra Sharma
| Astra Sharma | |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Astra Sharma |
| Date of Birth | 11 September 1995 |
| Age | 29 years |
| Zodiac Sign | Virgo |
| Birth place | Singapore |
| Nationality | Singaporean-Australian |
| Ethnicity | Chinese- Indian roots |
| Education | Applecross Senior High School |
| Profession | Professional Tennis Player |
| Father | Devdutt Sharma |
| Mother | Susan Tan |
| Siblings | Ashwin and Tara |
| Marital Status | Single |
| Spouse/Partner | NA |
| Boyfriend | NA |
| Kids | NA |
| Religion | NA |
| Estimated Net Worth: | $1million |
| Source of net worth | Tennis career |
| Height | 5 feet 10 inches (1.78m) |
| Weight | 63kg (139Ibs) |
| Eye color | Dark Brown |
| Hair color | Dark Brown |
| Social media |
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