Anastasija Sevastova was born on May 13, 1990, in Liepaja, Latvian USSR. She was raised by her mother Diana Golovanova, an English teacher. Due to a lack of indoor tennis facilities during the colder months in Lativa, she started attending Niki Pilic’s tennis academy at the age of 14.
Sevastova attained her first victories on the WTA Tour in 2009. Her first Grand Slam win was at the US Open that year against Tamarine Tanasugarn. She ended 2009 ranked inside the Top 100 for the first time. The Latvian claimed her first WTA title in May 2010 on the clay courts at the Estoril Open.
She beat the top seed at the event, Agnes Szavay, in the first round before triumphing 6-2, 7-5 in the final against Arantxa Parra Santonja. Sevastova made her first Grand Slam fourth-round appearance at the 2011 Australian Open, where she lost to the top seed Caroline Wozniacki.
This was followed by a loss of form, injuries, and illness, which led to Sevastova retiring from the sport in May 2013. However, Sevastova returned to tennis in January 2015. That year was spent almost entirely on the ITF Circuit to improve her ranking. Four ITF titles saw her end the season ranked just outside the Top 100 at No. 110. Sevastova broke new ground in 2016.
She reached two WTA finals during the same season for the first time in her career. These came at the Mallorca Open and Bucharest Open, but she lost each final to Simona Halep and Caroline Garcia, respectively. This was followed by Sevastova progressing to a first Grand Slam quarter-final at the 2016 US Open.
Her run included a second-round triumph against that year’s French Open champion Garbine Muguruza. Sevastova comprehensively lost the quarter-final 0-6, 2-6 against Caroline Wozniacki.
The Latvian had further success in 2017. She made her first semi-finals at the WTA 1000 level in Dubai and Madrid. She fell to Wozniacki again at the Dubai Championships and to Simona Halep at the Madrid Open. This was followed a few months later by a second consecutive US Open quarter-final, losing an epic match 3-6, 6-3, 6-7 to the eventual champion Sloane Stephens.
She also won her second WTA title that year at the Mallorca Open by overcoming Julia Gorges in the final. Sevastova’s two biggest achievements came in 2018. She took the next step at the US Open to reach her maiden Grand Slam semi-final. This included getting revenge in the quarterfinal against Stephens before being knocked out by Serena Williams.
A few months later, Sevastova had a run to her only WTA 1000 final in Beijing. She recorded a stunning victory against that year’s US Open champion, Naomi Osaka, in the semi-final but lost 3-6, 3-6 in the final against Caroline Wozniacki.
Sevastova also won the title in Bucharest in 2018. The Latvian won her fourth title on home soil at the Baltic Open in July 2019. The following years were less successful for the US Open semifinalist. Sevastova announced that she was taking an indefinite break from tennis in February 2022, but two years later, she returned to the WTA Tour at the 2024 Transylvania Open.
