Sacha Hughes
Sacha Hughes is the current New Zealand Fed Cup captain appointed May 2019. She is a former professional New Zealand and Australian tennis player who competed as Sacha Jones. Her highest WTA singles ranking was 150, which she reached on 8 October 2012. Her highest ITF Junior ranking was 11 in the world. She attained the Number 1 ranking in New Zealand in 2009 and competed in the ASB Classic, New Zealand's only WTA event on seven occasions.
Personal life
Her father is Australian-born and her mother is a New Zealander. She has two older brothers and one older sister.In 2014, Hughes retired from professional tennis citing a succession of injuries including three stress fractures in her ribs. Upon retiring from professional tennis she completed her private pilots license.
In 2016, Hughes co-founded a website called , with her friend Stephanie Hughes, which seeks to encourage young women to grow their inner confidence, and offers personal support for the challenges that teenagers experience. Praised for openly discussing topics such as depression and body image, Hughes talks openly about her own experiences with such subjects.
She resides in Auckland, New Zealand with her husband, Adrian Hughes.
Professional tennis career
2003
Hughes became the youngest person, female or male, to win the New Zealand 18&under National Championships at 13 years, 1 month. She defeated Lucy Cole in the final 60 61.2005
Sacha began 2005 ranked outside the top 500 juniors in the world and finished inside the top 75 thanks to winning three tournaments in a row, including the Oceania Junior Championships held in Lautoka, Fiji.2006
In 2006 Hughes competed in all four junior grand slams, she lost in the second round of the junior Australian Open to Dominika Cibulkova, second round of junior Wimbledon to Caroline Wozniacki and the quarterfinals of the US Open to Tamira Paszek. At 16 years old she finished 2006 ranked 11 in the world junior 18&Under ITF rankings.2008
As a 17 year old Hughes lost in Round One of the 2008 ASB Classic to second seed, Vera Zvonareva. Later in the year Hughes teamed up with Justin Gimelstob and Serena Williams to play for the Washington Kastles World Team Tennis team.2009
Sacha began 2009 ranked 306 in the world. In June she won her first professional tournament in Texas, U.S.A. In September she embarked on a 24 match winning streak. At a tournament in Darwin, Hughes won her second title of the year, recording a win over former top 10 player Alicia Molik who was working on a comeback. Two weeks later she won another title in Mount Gambier, defeating Molik in the final. The next week Hughes run continued in Port Pirie, where she again defeated Molik in the final. Hughes then traveled to South Carolina, USA where she won another tournament without dropping a set. The following week Hughes again raced to another final in Phoenix, but had her run snapped by Varvara Lepchenko. After this run of good form, she was ranked at a career high of 167 in the world.2010
Hughes was set to compete in the ASB Classic but had to withdraw due to an abdominal injury.She played at the 2010 PTT Pattaya Open but lost in the First Round to Alberta Brianti. She was able to compete only sporadically on tour for the remainder of the year due to stress fractures in her ribs.
2011
Hughes featured in the ASB Classic as a wildcard draw in which she was defeated in two tight sets by third seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in the first round.She was the hitting partner for Maria Sharapova during this tournament.
She competed in the US Open qualifying draw, losing in the second round in three sets.
2012
Hughes started off at the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand as a wildcard where she lost her first-round match to Elena Baltacha in three tight sets.She qualified for the Moorilla International in Hobart, Australia. She won her first round at the WTA event- beating Kristina Barrois in straight sets. She lost to Shahar Pe'er in round two in an extremely tight two-setter.
At the 2012 Australian Open, Sacha partnered compatriot Bojana Bobusic to enter the Women's Doubles Event where the pair beat Līga Dekmeijere and Maria Kondratieva in the First Round. This was her first ever win at a main draw Grand Slam.
She recorded mixed results for most of 2012 including a three set win over Eugenie Bouchard to secure her spot in the French Open.
At the 2012 Gastein Ladies, Hughes won her second WTA main draw match, defeating Yuliya Beygelzimer in round one. She lost to Alizé Cornet in round two.
During the year, Sacha secured three $25,000 victories on the ITF Women's Circuit, including one title in Kristenhamm, Sweden and two in Australia.
2013
Hughes made her grand slam singles debut at the 2013 Australian Open; she was beaten in the first round by Kristýna Plíšková. In 2013, she suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome and stress fractures in her shin, and played a limited schedule.2014
Hughes lost at the ASB Classic to Sachie Ishizu 6–7 in the third set after holding several match points. Partnering with her best childhood friend in the doubles event at the ASB Classic they beat the top seeds, former world number one, Cara Black and New Zealand's Marina Erakovic in the opening round. She announced that the 2014 ASB Classic was her last tournament, and retired from professional tennis. Later in 2014 she won the New Zealand Women's Open in singles and doubles.2018: Comeback
Hughes started her comeback at the ASB Classic, where she lost in the first round of qualifying to Katie Boulter.Career statistics
ITF Circuit singles finals: 15 (10–5)
| Outcome | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score |
| Runner-up | 1. | 17 November 2008 | Manila, Philippines | Hard |  Ayu Fani Damayanti | 6–7, 2–6 |
| Winner | 2. | 15 June 2009 | Brownsville, United States | Hard |  Ester Goldfeld | 6–3, 2–6, 6–0 |
| Winner | 3. | 21 September 2009 | Darwin, Australia | Hard |  Bojana Bobusic | 6–4, 6–1 |
| Winner | 4. | 5 October 2009 | Mount Gambier, Australia | Hard | Alicia Molik | 4–6, 6–4, 6–3 |
| Winner | 5. | 12 October 2009 | Port Pirie, Australia | Hard | Alicia Molik | 3–6, 6–1, 7–5 |
| Winner | 6. | 2 November 2009 | Rock Hill, United States | Hard |  Ani Mijačika | 6–0, 6–4 |
| Runner-up | 7. | 15 November 2009 | Phoenix, United States | Hard | Varvara Lepchenko | 0–6, 0–6 |
| Winner | 8. | 20 September 2010 | Alice Springs, Australia | Hard |  Ana Clara Duarte | 5–7, 6–3, 6–3 |
| Winner | 9. | 14 November 2010 | Esperance, Australia | Hard |  Çağla Büyükakçay | 6–2, 6–3 |
| Runner-up | 10. | 28 November 2010 | Traralgon, Australia | Hard |  Julia Glushko | 6–2, 5–7, 6–7 |
| Runner-up | 11. | 20 November 2011 | Traralgon, Australia | Hard | Casey Dellacqua | 5–7, 6–7 |
| Winner | 12. | 23 June 2012 | Kristinehamn, Sweden | Clay |  Magda Linette | 6–4, 6–4 |
| Winner | 13. | 2 September 2012 | Cairns, Australia | Hard |  Zhang Ling | 6–0, 6–2 |
| Runner-up | 14. | 9 September 2012 | Rockhampton, Australia | Hard | Olivia Rogowska | 6–0, 3–6, 2–6 |
| Winner | 15. | 23 September 2012 | Port Pirie, Australia | Hard | Olivia Rogowska | 6–2, 7–5 |