Çağla Büyükakçay

Çağla Büyükakçay (born 28 September 1989) is a Turkish professional tennis player.

She has won 12 singles and 15 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit.

After a few aborted starts, Büyükakçay played her first professional match at an ITF event in Istanbul in May 2004.

Losing in the qualifying draw, she would play two more tournaments during the 2004 season.

She won her first ever Fed Cup match in 2005, partnering Pemra Özgen to defeat Stephanie Pace and Stephanie Sullivan of Malta.

She made her WTA debut at the İstanbul Cup, but lost to Elena Vesnina in the first round.

She continued to compete in $10k and $25k events for the remainder of the year.

Büyükakçay began the 2006 season in Ramat HaSharon, but fell there in qualifying to Katariina Tuohimaa.

She did not win a main-draw match until April, when she made it to the second round of a $10k tournament in Chennai.

She again played for Turkey in Fed Cup, registering a straight-sets win over Olfa Dhaoui of Tunisia.

She partnered again with Pemra Özgen, this time double bageling Sigurlaug Sigurdardottir and Iris Staub of Iceland.

She reached her first singles and doubles finals simultaneously in Antalya, losing the singles final but winning the doubles with Alena Bayarchyk.

She continued mainly on the ITF Circuit but would not reach another final until September, when she made it to the final of in Istanbul.

Büyükakçay continued to gain experience during the 2007 season, recording her first ever singles title in Istanbul.

In 2008, Büyükakçay won her second singles title in Gaziantep.

She proceeded to enter a mix of lower and higher-level ITF tournaments with some success, including a quarterfinal appearance at a $50k tournament in Penza, going down to Julia Glushko in a tough three-set match.

She ended the season on a high, capturing the doubles title with Lucía Sainz in Vinaròs.

Büyükakçay recorded her first singles title of the 2009 season in Istanbul before returning to the city two weeks later.

Having been awarded a wildcard into the 2009 İstanbul Cup, she drew Lucie Hradecká and led the Czech by a set before succumbing in three sets.

She did not compete in any other WTA tournaments for the rest of the year.

Büyükakçay had an exceptional 2010 season – she remained undefeated during the Fed Cup, winning three singles matches and dropping only four games in the process.

She followed up her Fed Cup success the following week, winning the biggest singles title of her career at a $25k tournament in Kharkiv.

She won another $25k title in Valladolid in July before returning to Istanbul to play at the İstanbul Cup.

Having bowed out in the first round to Elena Baltacha, she entered the doubles draw with Pemra Özgen and reached the semifinals.

It was the first WTA-level semifinal in her career – in singles or doubles.

She went on to make history when she entered the US Open qualifying draw.

Although she lost in the qualifying first round, it was a major achievement in that no other Turkish woman had previously entered qualifying of a Grand Slam tournament.

She continued on the tour and reached another final in Esperance, Western Australia, losing to Sacha Jones of New Zealand.

Her first 2011 tournament was the Australian Open, winning one qualifying match before going down to Corinna Dentoni.

She began to combine her schedule with more WTA events but did not reach another final until July, when she lost to Garbiñe Muguruza in Caceras.

At the US Open, she lost in the second round of qualifying to Mandy Minella of Luxembourg.

In October, she lost in the final of a $25k event in Netanya, narrowly losing to Dinah Pfizenmaier in three sets.

In September 2016, she reached her highest singles ranking of world No. 60.

She won her first title on the WTA Tour at her home tournament in Istanbul.

On 29 February 2016, she peaked at world No. 111 in the WTA doubles rankings.

Playing for Turkey at the Billie Jean King Cup, Büyükakçay has a win–loss record of 41–32.

She is also the top-ranked tennis player at Istanbul's multi-sports club Enkaspor.

Büyükakçay was the first tennis player to represent Turkey at the Olympic Games.

She competed at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

She did not contest many junior tournaments, only playing four before competing at the senior level.