CAREER
Over three-year career, earned three All-Ivy League Second Team honors after playing at the No. 1 position … Became the first player in school history to advance to the ITA Fall All-American Tournament and the first player in school history to make it to the Main Draw as a sophomore in 2019-20 … Totaled a 49-31 overall career singles record and 43-38 combined doubles record … Named the 2019 ITA Northeast Region Player to Watch.
2021-22
As a senior, earned Second Team All-Ivy League honors in singles … Served as team captain … Went 12-17 overall in singles and a combined 10-20 overall in doubles matches … Played through one of the most difficult singles seasons in school history as she went 3-9 vs. nationally ranked opponents (12 matches) … Went 1-4 in Ivy League singles matches and 7-12 at the No. 1 singles spot … Went 8-9 with doubles partner Anna Zhang (6-6 at No. 1 doubles) and 2-8 with partner Melissa Sakar (2-8 at No. 1 doubles) … On the year, defeated three nationally ranked opponents, including Duke’s Georgia Drummy (No. 5), Penn’s Iulia Bryzgalova (No. 70), and Miami, Fla.’s Eden Richardson (No. 46).
2020-21
Junior season canceled by Ivy League due to COVID-19 pandemic.
2019-20
As a sophomore, finished with a 17-8 overall singles record and 15-9 combined doubles record …Played primarily at the No. 1 singles position an No. 1 and 2 doubles positions … Concluded the year ranked No. 105 in singles by the ITA … Became the first-ever Columbia women’s tennis player to advance to the ITA All-American Main Draw in October … Went 6-5 on year against nationally-ranked singles opponents … Also went 4-4 in singles dual matches and 13-4 in tournament play (singles) … Finished 13-7 with doubles partner Paulina Ferrari (4-3 in dual matches and 9-4 in tournament play and 3-3 at No. 1 doubles) … Finished 10-4 with Ferrari vs. the Northeast Region … Won five straight singles matches and went 6-2 overall at the ITA All-American in Tulsa, Okla. (Oct. 4-19) … Won Brooklyn Bracket championship at Columbia Invitational … On the year, defeated nationally-ranked opponents: Baylor’s Jessica Hinojosa, Arkansas’ Martina Zerulo, Notre Dame’s Zoe Spence, Fordham’s Arina Taluyenko, Syracuse’s Guzai Yusupova, and Yale’s Samantha Martinelli … Won five straight matches two different times … Along with doubles partner Paulina Ferrari, defeated two nationally-ranked teams: Oklahoma State’s Catherine Guliher/Alana Wolfberg, and Auburn’s Madeline Meredith/Georgia Axon … Advanced to semifinals/final four of Northeast Regionals.
2018-19
As a first-year, played primarily at No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles with partner Paulina Ferrari … Earned the ITA Northeast Regional “Player to Watch” award … Earned All-Ivy League Second Team honors in both singles and doubles … Concluded the year with a 20-6 overall singles record and 18-9 combined doubles record … Led team in singles victories (20) and tournament wins (nine) … Finished with an 11-4 dual match record and 3-2 in Ivy League singles matches … Finished 10-3 at No. 2 singles … With doubles partner, Paulina Ferrari, teamed for a 14-8 overall doubles record, 3-3 Ivy League record and 5-6 record at No. 1 doubles … Selected to compete in doubles at the All-American Championships in Malibu, Calif. (Sept. 29-30) with Paulina Ferrari … Claimed Columbia Invitational (Sept. 21-23) and Brown Invitational (Nov. 2-4) doubles title with Ferrari … Won five straight singles matches from Jan. 25-Feb. 23 … Also teamed with Melissa Sakar for a 4-1 doubles record, including a 2-0 record at No. 2 doubles.
HIGH SCHOOL
A 2018 graduate of the Udgam School for Children in Ahmedabad, India where played three years for Head Coach Shrimal Bhatt … Ranked the nation’s No. 28 recruit by TennisRecruiting.net … Ranked among the world’s top-140 players in the International Tennis Federation World Junior Rankings … Currently ranked as the No. 1 player in the All-India Under-18 girl’s rankings … Qualified for the Main Draw Junior Australian Open in Melbourne, Australia … Earned a career-high ranking of 110 on the International Junior Circuit … Won the All-India National Clay Court Championship in 2017 … Runner-up for the All-India Hard Court Singles and Doubles Championship in 2017 … Two-time ITF Grade-4 Singles Winner in both 2016 and 2017 … ITF Grade 3 singles runner-up and doubles winner in 2017 … ITF Grade 4 singles runner-up in 2017 … ITF Asian B1 doubles runner-up honoree in 2017 … Won the 2016 Khel Pratibha Award after winning the All-India National Hard Court Tennis Championship … ITF Grade 3 singles semifinalist and doubles runner-up in 2016 … Earned the Sardar Patel Award in 2015 … Won three individual championships and three team championships at the National School Games in 2016-17, 2014-15 and 2013-14 … Three-time team captain … Played three years in the first position … Compiled career singles record of 92-56 and career doubles record of 49-56 … Represented Asia under the Grand Slam Development Fund … Finished fourth at the state-level spelling bee.
PERSONAL
Born Akanksha Ajay Bhan on November 18, 2000 in Gujarat, India … Daughter of Ajay and Papita Bhan … Has an older sister Divya (21) … Both parents attended college in Srinagar … Father is an engineer … Sister Divya played lawn tennis from 2001-13 and competed at the national and international levels while completing her education at Udgam School for Children … Nickname is Akshu, short for Akanksha … Hobbies and interests include sketching, reading fiction and comics and watching Bollywood & Marvel movies … Also loves cooking … Role model is her sister … Favorite sports figure: Roger Federer … Favorite sports memory was qualifying for the Australian Junior Open main draw … Chose Columbia because of its perfect mix of education and tennis, diverse student population and also because Columbia is like no other college because of its vast arrays of opportunities … Columbia was always her top college choice … Chose Columbia over scholarship offers from Michigan, Northwestern and Texas A&M … Enrolled at Columbia College … Majors in Economics.
YEAR-BY-YEAR STATISTICS
|
SINGLES |
DOUBLES |
| Year |
Overall |
Dual |
Tour |
Ivy |
Overall |
Ivy |
| 2018-19 |
20-6 |
11-4 |
9-2 |
3-2 |
18-9 |
3-3 |
| 2019-20 |
17-8 |
4-4 |
13-4 |
0-0 |
15-9 |
0-0 |
| 2020-21 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
| 2021-22 |
12-17 |
7-12 |
5-5 |
1-4 |
10-20 |
1-6 |
| Career |
49-31 |
22-20 |
27-11 |
4-6 |
43-38 |
4-9 |
