Kamilla Rakhimova came into the 2026 Toray Pan Pacific Open as a lucky loser and left it as a semifinalist, her first at WTA 500 level. She beat Ekaterina Alexandrova in a deciding-set tiebreak and Maya Joint in three sets before Leylah Fernandez, whom she had beaten in Beijing three weeks earlier, stopped her 7-5, 6-3. It was her first season playing for Uzbekistan.
Born on 28 August 2001 in Yekaterinburg, Russia, Rakhimova is a right-hander who stands 1.70 metres, started playing at five and lists hard courts as her favourite surface. She is coached by Yulia Pilchikova.
Quick Facts
- Country: Uzbekistan (from December 2025; previously Russia)
- Born: 28 August 2001, Yekaterinburg
- Plays: Right-handed
- Career-high singles ranking: No. 60 (30 December 2024)
- Titles: two WTA 125 singles titles; five WTA doubles titles
- Coach: Yulia Pilchikova
A Qualifier’s Start
Rakhimova made her professional debut on the ITF Circuit in Kazakhstan in 2016 and lost her first WTA main-draw match as a wild card in Jurmala in 2019. Her Grand Slam debut came at Roland Garros in 2020, through qualifying. She beat Shelby Rogers, then ranked 55th, in the first round, her first win at tour level, before losing to Maria Sakkari.
A year later she qualified for the US Open and reached the third round, where Barbora Krejcikova beat her. She broke into the top 100 for the first time on 22 August 2022, after winning a W60 ITF event in the Bronx, and owns seven singles and six doubles titles on the ITF Circuit.
The WTA 125 Titles
In 2023 she reached the third round of Roland Garros, losing to Aryna Sabalenka, the semifinals in Bogota and the final of the WTA 125 event in Stanford. The first title came the next year at the WTA 125 in Guadalajara, alongside semifinals in Bogota and Rabat and quarterfinals at the WTA 500 in Guadalajara and in Jiujiang. She reached her career high of No. 60 on 30 December 2024. The tier she won those titles in is explained in WTA 125 explained.
Paolini at Wimbledon
Her best grass-court season was 2025. She qualified for Eastbourne and reached the quarterfinals, losing to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, and at Wimbledon she beat world No. 5 Jasmine Paolini to reach the third round. It was the first top 10 win of her career. She closed that season with a second WTA 125 title, in Angers.
Playing for Uzbekistan
The Uzbekistan Tennis Federation announced at the start of December 2025 that Rakhimova, then ranked 109th, would compete under the Uzbek flag. Her family has ties to the country: her mother, Rufina Rakhimova, was one of the strongest juniors of her age group and played for the Uzbek SSR, and her older brother, Timur, was born in Tashkent.
“The arrival of Kamila Rakhimova to the Uzbekistan national team is an event of historic significance,” federation secretary general Sador Kamilov said. “She has already proven herself to be a strong, competitive tennis player capable of playing on equal terms with the world’s top players.” How a change of sporting nationality works on tour, and for team events and the Olympics, is covered in how tennis players change nationality.
Doubles
Rakhimova has five WTA doubles titles: Phillip Island and Linz in 2021, Tampico in 2023, Bogota in 2024 and Cluj-Napoca in 2026. She reached the doubles quarterfinals at the 2025 Australian Open and a career-high doubles ranking of No. 51 on 25 August 2025.
The Tokyo Run
Her autumn turned in Beijing, where she beat Fernandez in three sets before Iva Jovic saved two set points against her in the third round. In Tokyo she entered as a lucky loser, beat Alexandrova in a deciding-set tiebreak, then came back from 5-2 down in the first set against Joint to win 7-5, 5-7, 6-1.
Fernandez took the rematch from behind. Rakhimova led early in both sets of the semifinal before the Canadian won six of the last seven games. “She beat me three weeks ago,” Fernandez said. “She played an incredible match then, and she still played an incredible match now.”
Grand Slam Best Results
- Australian Open: second round (2024)
- Roland Garros: third round (2023)
- Wimbledon: third round (2025)
- US Open: third round (2021)
Season Snapshot — 31 October 2026
- Ranking: No. 66
- 2026 record: 27-29 before the Tokyo week
- Best 2026 result: semifinal, Toray Pan Pacific Open, Tokyo (WTA 500), as a lucky loser
- 2026 doubles title: Cluj-Napoca
- Coach: Yulia Pilchikova
This snapshot is dated and will change. The career record above does not.
