The highest-ranked Brazilian in the youth world rankings, Olívia Carneiro will follow the path of North American university tennis next season. She will attend Georgia Tech University in the second semester, but before that she is focused on participating in the Grand Slam tournaments in her category as well as her first professional tournaments. Originally from São Paulo, Olívia, 17, currently sits 48th in the youth rankings and won her biggest title in October, at the ITF J200 in La Paz.

“I’m going to university in August next year. I have to stay there for at least six months. Depending on how I play and my level, we will decide if I will continue in the university leagues or if I will follow a normal professional schedule,” Olívia Carneiro told TenisBrasil this Tuesday.

January’s Australian Open will be the second Grand Slam in the career of the tennis player, who played at Roland Garros in 2022, when she won the national selection for a place in Paris. The Brazilian was looking for a direct place in this year’s edition and performed well in the first half, focusing on the Banana Bowl semi-final, but suffered a muscle injury in the abdominal region on the eve of the French Grand Prix. Slam.

“I’m going to play the Youth Grand Slam. And since the ITF, I only play what is necessary to maintain my ranking and access the main draws. And try to play against as many professionals as possible,” explained the young tennis player, who is trying to enter the WTA professional ranking. To do this, you need to earn 10 points or add them in three different tournaments in one year. Currently, it already has two points.

Olívia participated this week in the ITF W15 in Monastir, already on the professional circuit, but was beaten in her debut this Tuesday by the Nigerian Adesuwa Osabuohien by 1/6, 6/4 and 6/4. In the same tournament, Ana Candiotto lost to Canadian Carson Branstine with scores of 6/1 and 6/0. The tournament has two other Brazilians Luana Plaza and Julia Konishi.