Zeel Desai (born 18 February 1999) is an Indian tennis player from Ahmedabad.

Zeel Desai
Country (sports) India
Born (1999-02-18) 18 February 1999 (age 25)
Ahmedabad, India
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize moneyUS$60,785
Singles
Career record164–113
Career titles3 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 549 (19 September 2022)
Current rankingNo. 628 (6 November 2023)
Doubles
Career record80–50
Career titles6 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 510 (10 September 2018)
Current rankingNo. 574 (6 November 2023)
Team competitions
Fed Cup1–0
Last updated on: 6 November 2023.

Desai has a career-high singles ranking of 549 by the WTA, achieved on 19 September 2022. She also has a career-high WTA doubles ranking of 510, attained on 10 September 2018. Desai has won three singles titles and six doubles titles on the ITF Circuit.

Desai represents India at the Billie Jean King Cup and made her debut at the 2021 play-offs against Latvia.[1] In February 2024, Desai as a wildcard entry in L&T Mumbai Open WTA 125K match won her first match against Greece's Sapfo Sakellaridi 6–2, 6–1.[2] In November 2023, she lost to Shrivalli to finish runners-up at the ITF Women's World Tour Tennis final at the Bowring Institute clay courts in Bengaluru.[3] Earlier in February 2023, she entered the final of the $15,000 ITF women's tennis tournament at the Joygaon Academy with a semifinal victory against Vaidehi on her birthday.[4] In the final, she beat qualifier Sandeepti Singh Rao 1–6, 6–1, 6–4 to win the title.[5]

ITF Circuit finals

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Singles: 10 (3 titles, 7 runner–ups)

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Legend
$25,000 tournaments (0–1)
$10/15,000 tournaments (3–6)
Finals by surface
Hard (2–4)
Clay (1–3)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 Sep 2016 ITF Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt 10,000 Hard   Ana Bianca Mihăilă 6–3, 5–7, 4–6
Win 1–1 Feb 2017 ITF Gwalior, India 15,000 Hard   Mahak Jain 6–3, 7–5
Loss 1–2 Jun 2018 ITF Guimarães, Portugal 15,000 Hard   Maria João Koehler 1–6, 6–3, 1–6
Loss 1–3 Mar 2020 ITF Cairo, Egypt 15,000 Hard   Sandra Samir 7–5, 6–7(7), 2–6
Loss 1–4 Jan 2021 ITF Monastir, Tunisia 15,000 Hard   Salma Djoubri 4–6, 6–3, 2–6
Loss 1–5 Feb 2022 ITF Jhajjar, India 15,000 Clay   Anna Ureke 4–6, 6–4, 4–6
Loss 1–6 Feb 2022 ITF Ahmedabad, India 15,000 Clay   Emily Seibold 2–6, 1–6
Win 2–6 Feb 2023 ITF Jhajjar, India 15,000 Clay   Sandeepti Singh Rao 1–6, 6–1, 6–4
Win 3–6 Oct 2023 ITF Monastir, Tunisia 15,000 Hard   Hina Inoue 6–2, 6–4
Loss 3–7 Nov 2023 ITF Bengaluru, India 25,000 Clay   Shrivalli Bhamidipaty 0–6, 6–4, 3–6

Doubles: 16 (6 titles, 10 runner–ups)

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Legend
$25,000 tournaments (0–2)
$10/15,000 tournaments (6–6)
Finals by surface
Hard (6–9)
Clay (0–1)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 Sep 2016 ITF Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt 10,000 Hard   Ola Abou Zekry   Suzy Larkin
  Theiviya Selvarajoo
7–5, 6–4
Win 2–0 Sep 2017 ITF Hua Hin, Thailand 15,000 Hard   Pranjala Yadlapalli   Rutuja Bhosale
  Alexandra Walters
6–2, 7–5
Win 3–0 Apr 2018 ITF Hua Hin, Thailand 15,000 Hard   Bunyawi Thamchaiwat   Sheng Yuqi
  Aldila Sutjiadi
7–5, 6–1
Loss 3–1 Jun 2018 ITF Guimarães, Portugal 15,000 Hard   Cristina Ene   Karola Bejenaru
  Jacqueline Cabaj Awad
1–6, 0–6
Loss 3–2 Jul 2018 ITF Hong Kong 15,000 Hard   Akari Inoue   Ng Kwan-yau
  Wu Ho-ching
4–6, 4–6
Loss 3–3 Jul 2018 ITF Jakarta, Indonesia 15,000 Hard   Mana Ayukawa   Arianne Hartono
  Aldila Sutjiadi
1–6, 2–6
Loss 3–4 Sep 2019 ITF Pretoria, South Africa 15,000 Hard   Merel Hoedt   Caroline Roméo
  Chanel Simmonds
w/o
Win 4–4 Jan 2020 ITF Monastir, Tunisia 15,000 Hard   Anastasia Tikhonova   Bojana Marinković
  Tereza Mihalíková
7–6(4), 5–7, [10–5]
Loss 4–5 Mar 2020 ITF Cairo, Egypt 15,000 Hard   Stefania Rogozińska Dzik   Jacqueline Cabaj Awad
  Sandra Samir
5–7, 2–6
Loss 4–6 Feb 2023 ITF Jhajjar, India 15,000 Clay   Vaidehi Chaudhari   Diāna Marcinkēviča
  Fanny Östlund
2–6, 1–6
Win 5–6 Feb 2023 ITF Gurugram, India 15,000 Hard   Punnin Kovapitukted   Shrivalli Rashmikaa Bhamidipaty
  Vaidehi Chaudhari
6–2, 6–2
Loss 5–7 May 2023 ITF Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand 25,000 Hard   Anastasia Sukhotina   Shrivalli Rashmikaa Bhamidipaty
  Vaidehi Chaudhari
4–6, 3–6
Loss 5–8 Aug 2023 ITF Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand 25,000 Hard   Vaidehi Chaudhari   Luksika Kumkhum
  Park So-hyun
6–7(4), 0–6
Win 6–8 Oct 2023 ITF Monastir, Tunisia 15,000 Hard   Anastasia Sukhotina   Arabella Koller
  Camilla Zanolini
6–4, 6–7(11), [10–7]
Loss 6–9 Jun 2024 ITF Monastir, Tunisia W15 Hard   Naïma Karamoko   Xiao Zhenghua
  Xu Jiayu
6–7(7), 5–7
Loss 6–10 Aug 2024 ITF Monastir, Tunisia W15 Hard   Celine Simunyu   Sofya Gapankova
  Kseniya Yersh
2–6, 3–6

References

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  1. ^ "Draws Announced For Billie Jean King Cup Play-offs". www.tennis-tourtalk.com.
  2. ^ "Mumbai Open 2024: India's Shrivalli Bhamidipaty and Zeel Desai cause major upsets in 1st qualifying round". India Today. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
  3. ^ Sudarshan, N. (26 November 2023). "Shrivalli downs Zeel to claim maiden ITF Women's World Tour Tennis title". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
  4. ^ Srinivasan, Kamesh (18 February 2023). "Sandeepti sets up final date against Zeel Desai". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
  5. ^ Srinivasan, Kamesh (19 February 2023). "Zeel Desai comes from behind to win ITF women's tennis tournament". Sportstar. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
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