Tyra Grant fantastic: another big win for the very young Azzurra

Tyra Caterina Grant lights up Italian women’s tennis: the Rome-born 18-year-old Italian won a match in the main draw of a Masters 1000 for the first time in her career. In Madrid, where she played after winning tough qualifying matches, Azzurra overcame France’s Elsa Jacquemot in two sets with a peremptory 6-1, 6-2.

The unleashed Tyra Grant, world number 262, won in one hour and 13 minutes against the transalpine number 62 in the WTA rankings. The Azzurra, who had eliminated the higher-ranked Erjavec and Udvardy in the qualifiers, turned in another very solid performance on serve and left her rival no chance.

Grant, who turned 18 only last March will now face Romanian Sorana Cirstea, number 25 in the seeding, in the third round. Meanwhile, the tennis player who grew up in Vigevano and has U.S. citizenship is also enjoying the nice jump in the rankings, with an impressive 45 positions gained and climbing up to 223rd place.

For Tyra Grant this is further confirmation of an exponential growth that began already in the previous season. The young Italian-American, daughter of former U.S. basketball player Tyrone Grant – who also played for Olimpia Milano and Virtus Bologna – and tennis teacher Cinzia Giovinco, her current manager, has won three tournaments on the ITF circuit: Antalya and Val Gardena in 2024 and Pula in 2026. In addition to these are doubles successes in the junior circuit, with titles in the junior tournaments of Roland Garros 2023 (with U.S. Clervie Ngounoue), the Australian Open and Wimbledon 2024 (both with Iva Jovic).

The tennis player, who currently trains at the Nuova Casale Tennis Club in Casale Monferrato, has been representing the Azzurri colors since the spring of 2025 and has already experienced the excitement of being part of the Billie Jean King Cup-winning Italian team, along with Jasmine Paolini, Sara Errani, Elisabetta Cocciaretto and Lucia Bronzetti, under the guidance of captain Tathiana Garbin

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