Carolina Alves, a professional tennis player from Brazil, has achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 317 as of May 10, 2021. Her accomplishments on the ITF Circuit include winning five singles titles and an impressive tally of 21 doubles titles. She marked her entry into the WTA Tour main draw at the 2015 Rio Open, competing in the doubles category alongside Ingrid Gamarra Martins.
Born Carolina Meligeni Rodrigues Alves on April 23, 1996, in São Paulo, Brazil, she comes from a family deeply connected to tennis. She is the niece of former tennis star Fernando Meligeni and the sister of fellow tennis player Felipe Meligeni Alves. During her junior years, Carolina Alves claimed numerous trophies across Latin America, showcasing her potential to excel in the sport.
Her professional journey began in 2011 at the $10,000 Santos tournament in Brazil, where she made it to the second round. In 2012, she participated in three more ITF tournaments—$25,000 Brasília, $25,000 São José do Rio Preto, and $15,000 São Paulo. Despite her early promise, those events proved challenging, as she struggled to advance beyond the first round in each of them.
Carolina Alves began her professional journey in 2013, making it to her first final at the $10,000 event in Sao Jose do Rio Preto, Brazil, although she fell short against Gabriela Ce.
Between 2014 and 2015, she shifted her focus entirely to the ITF Circuit, primarily competing across Latin America. During this phase, she honed her skills, particularly her serve, and made notable progress. Her standout performances during this period included reaching the semi-finals at the $10,000 event in Sao Jose do Rio Preto and advancing to the quarter-finals at the $60,000 W60 Asuncion tournament in Paraguay.
In 2016, Carolina Alves claimed her maiden ITF title at the $15,000 event in Hammamet, Tunisia. Later that year, she added a second ITF championship to her growing résumé. Her momentum carried into 2017 when she finished as runner-up at the $15,000 W15 Antalya tournament in Turkey, where much of her season’s preparation took place. The following year, she reached the final of the $25,000 W25 Santa Margherita di Pula event in Italy but was eventually outplayed by Katharina Hobgarski.
Her next triumphs came in 2019 and 2020 with victories at the $15,000 W15 Sao Paulo event in Brazil and the $15,000 W15 Cairo tournament in Egypt, further solidifying her presence on the ITF Circuit.
In November 2021, partnering with Marina Bassols Ribera, she reached her first WTA 125 doubles final at the Montevideo Open but lost to top seeds Irina Bara and Ekaterine Gorgodze, breaking into the WTA doubles top 150.
In April 2022, at the Billie Jean King Cup in Ecuador, she teamed up with Beatriz Haddad Maia to defeat Jazmin Ortenzi and Julia Riera after more than three hours of play. Carolina Alves secured her first WTA Tour-level main-draw singles win by beating Dayana Yastremska in the Copa Colsanitas opening round. In May, she won her biggest title at the W25 Castell-Platja d’Aro in Spain, defeating Carlota Martinez in the final.
At the 2023 Cali Open, she reached the second round as a qualifier after ousting fifth seed Caroline Dolehide but lost to Valeriya Strakhova in a deciding set. At the Bogota Open, she again reached the second round, beating Dayana Yastremska in three sets before falling to second seed Tatjana Maria, who went on to win the tournament. In late July, she played in the W60 Feira de Santana. She lost in the singles first round to Haley Giavara in straight sets. In doubles, partnered with Kristina Mladenovic, she advanced to the second round but withdrew due to Mladenović’s withdrawal before facing Brazilian duo Helena Bueno and Maria Carolina Ferreira Turchetto.
Later, Carolina Alves participated in another tournament, a W80 event held in Brasília. Her singles campaign ended abruptly in the first round, where she was defeated in straight sets by 18-year-old Canadian Cadence Brace. However, her performance in doubles was far more impressive. Teaming up with Argentine Julia Riera, Carolina Alves clinched the title after outplaying the British-Ukrainian pair Eden Silva and Valeriya Strakhova in the final. This victory marked a career milestone, becoming the most significant title Carolina Alves had achieved up to that point.
In October, she represented Brazil at her second Pan American Games, this time held in Santiago. In the singles draw, Carolina Alves advanced with two wins before falling short in the quarterfinals to Argentina’s María Lourdes Carlé.
The 2024 season saw Carolina Alves commence her year at the United Cup in Perth, Australia, a mixed-team event where nations compete collectively. This was her second appearance at the tournament, though she didn’t play in any matches. The Brazilian team faced a challenging start, bowing out in the group stage, with Haddad Maia delivering Brazil’s only win by defeating Sara Sorribes Tormo in straight sets. Later, during the Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers, Carolina Alves stepped up to replace Laura Pigossi against Germany’s Laura Siegemund. Despite losing 2–1, her effort drew commendation as she managed to win her first set against a top-100 player and demonstrated resilience throughout the match.
In May 2024, Carolina Alves secured her seventh career singles title at the W15 event in São João da Boa Vista, São Paulo. In the final, she triumphed over an Argentine opponent to claim yet another accolade. By November, due to Luisa Stefani’s knee surgery, Carolina Alves paired with Haddad Maia in a crucial doubles match during the Billie Jean King Cup tie against Argentina. The duo overcame Jazmín Ortenzi and Julia Riera, ensuring Brazil’s qualification for the 2025 Finals qualifiers.
Carolina Alves commenced her 2025 tennis season by representing Brazil in the United Cup. In their opening tie against China, she partnered with Rafael Matos for the mixed-doubles match, but the pair were unable to secure a victory, contributing to Brazil’s clean sweep loss to China. This result placed Brazil in a challenging position within the tournament. The team’s difficulties persisted, as Carolina and Matos faced another loss in their final mixed-doubles tie against Germany. Unfortunately, the Brazilian squad failed to achieve a single win throughout the competition and exited after the group stage.
Her second tournament of the season was a W35 event in Buenos Aires, where she competed in both singles and doubles. Partnering with Jazmín Ortenzi in doubles, they were eliminated in the first round, losing in straight sets to Bolivia’s Noelia Zeballos and Italy’s Miriana Tona. However, Carolina Alves found success in the singles draw, where she claimed her first W35 title by defeating Ortenzi in the final in straight sets. This victory marked her eighth career singles title and her largest accomplishment so far. The following week, Carolina Alves returned to Buenos Aires for another W35 tournament. Once again teaming up with Ortenzi for doubles, their campaign ended in the second round after a close match-tiebreak loss to Mexican players Ana Sofia Sanchez and Victoria Rodriguez. In the singles competition, Carolina Alves advanced to the semifinals but faced defeat against Ortenzi in straight sets, bringing an end to her impressive eight-match win streak.
In February, Carolina Alves competed in a series of ITF tournaments in Antalya, Turkey. In the first W35 event, she reached the quarterfinals but lost to Amarissa Tóth (6–7, 0–6). In doubles, she partnered with Zhibek Kulambayeva but was eliminated in the round of 16 by Ángela Fita Boluda and Ylena In-Albon.
In the second W35 tournament, she exited in the singles first round, losing to 16-year-old Czech Alena Kovačková in straight sets. Partnering with Ana Candiotto in doubles, Alves lost in the first round to Amarissa Tóth and Živa Falkner.
At the W15 event, Alves reached the singles round of 16 before falling to Yuki Naito. In her final W35 tournament, she again reached the round of 16 but was defeated by Italy’s Vittoria Paganetti (5–7, 6–7).
Carolina Alves photos
