Whitney Osuigwe- Bio, Parents, Tennis Career, 7 Unknown Details

The American born tennis player, Whitney Osuigwe has become one of the most talented, young, and famous tennis player in the United States. She is the former world No. 1 junior and the reigning ITF Junior World Champion. She was trained and coached by her father, Desmond Osuigwe at a very tender age. The young player has thrived quite well at her game. 

Osuigwe has participated in several championships and has won a few titles because of her hard work and dedication to the game. She made a quick rise through the ranks of junior tennis with impressive results such as winning her first Grand Slam Junior Title and also winning the prestigious Orange Bowl Girls’ 18s Championship. 

Biography and Parents of Whitney Osuigwe

The talented tennis player was born in Bradenton, Florida, in the United States on April 17, 2002. She was raised alongside her brother and sister in Florida.  

Her father, Desmond Osuigwe is originally from Nigeria where he began playing tennis when he was quite young. He was born in Lagos, Nigeria, and was a former ATP player in the 1990s. He competed in several ITF tournaments as a teenager. He made his way out of the challenges of surviving the violence around him at that time by playing tennis. His hard work and dedication paved way for him to the United States where he attended Jackson state university before he turned professional. He began working as a tennis coach at IMG Academy from 1997 to date.  

Desmond Osuigwe saw that his daughter had the potential of playing professionally since when she started beating her elder brother at a tender age so he decided to nurture the talent. 

Whitney’s mother, Jessica Osuigwe is from Bradenton, Florida. She is a former collegiate tennis athlete. She has been very supportive of her children’s dreams and career paths.  

Her Impressive Tennis Career

Just like several talented young African-American players who are following the footsteps of players like the Williams sisters, Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe, Osuigwe is determined to make her own mark in tennis. Her father enrolled her full-time into a tennis training college in Florida when he discovered her talent. She started training rigorously, enduring her father’s hard methods of training, and eventually, she keeps getting better at her game. 

At the age of 13 in 2016, Osuigwe played junior tournaments division and ended up competing with players as old as 18. She was ranked No. 2 in June 2017 in the junior rankings and reached the semifinals at the Orange Bowl and later won two grade-1 clay-court tournaments. In the 2017 Junior French Open, she won against fellow American, Claire Liu, in the history of the event, it was the only second time the final competed between two Americans with the first in 1980. Osuigwe also won the Orange Bowl towards the end of the year. 

She earned her a wild-card entry into the main draw of the US Open when she won the USTA Girls 18s National Championships on August 12, 2018. Osuigwe made her WTA main draw debut at the 2018 Miami open which she lost to her fellow wild card and junior rival Claire Liu. 

Osuigwe played alongside David Ferrer to replace Garbine Muguruza on the Spain team in the 2019 Hopman cup in January 2019.  She played only the mixed-doubles match but unfortunately lost to the French team which consisted of Lucas Pouilleand Alize cornet. Later in March that same year, she entered the Miami open main draw as a wild card and won her first-round against her fellow wild card Mari Osaka, Naomi Osaka’s sister. 

Facts You Probably Don’t Know About Her

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1. Osuigwe’s siblings

Her siblings are also great athletes, her older brother, Deandre is a college basketball player while her younger sister, victoria is also a promising tennis player. They all share the same dream of rising to the top of their game one day. 

2. Making History

She was the first American to win the girls’ event in the 2017 junior French Open since Jennifer Capriati in 1989. She is also the fifth overall American champion and the ninth youngest winner of the event at the age of 15. She was able to reach the girls’ doubles final at Wimbledon in 2017. 

3. Titles and rankings of Whitney Osuigwe

After she was named the 2017 ITF Junior world champion, she ranked as the No. 1 junior in the world which fostered the aforementioned title. The following year, she became the No. 2 ranked junior in the world. 

4. Teamwork and sportsmanship

The 5 feet 6 inches tall athlete led the U.S Junior fed cup team to its fourth junior fed cup title in Budapest, Hungary. That was the third championship for the American girls in six years. 

5. Role Model and hobbies

Osuigwe once admitted she idolizes Victoria Azarenka while she was growing up. She added that she admired her especially the way she fights and also her beautiful hair. 

Aside from playing tennis quite well, the young and determined Osuigwe likes shopping and going to the beach.

See Also: Mari Osaka- Bio, Net worth, Family, 5 Untold Facts On Naomi Osaka’s Sister

6. Playing Style

Her favourite spot is her backhand even though she is right-handed, she is a two-handed backhand player. Her favourite surface to compete on is on the red clay. 

7. Sponsors and net worth of Whitney Osuigwe

With the prize money of about US$ 369,570, the young and talented Osuigwe is currently sponsored by Nike and Yonex. With that said, her actual net worth still remains unknown. 

Complete profile of Whitney Osuigwe