CAREER
In three-year career, accumulated a 57-21 career singles record with a 34-9 dual match record … Finished 10-4 in a career in Ivy League singles play and a combined 30-21 in doubles play … Academic All-Ivy League selection in 2022.
2021-22
As a senior, earned Academic All-Ivy League honors for the first time in her career …
Served as team captain … Saw action primarily at the No. 2, 3, and 4 singles positions and No. 1, 2, and 3 doubles positions … Clutch performer who won a variety of clinch matches on the year … Accumulated a 16-10 overall record, went 12-4 in dual matches and led the Lions with a team-best 6-1 in Ivy League record … Combined for a 6-16 overall doubles record … Went 4-7 overall with teammate Rachele Rimondini and 2-8 with teammate Akanksha Bhan.
2020-21
Junior season canceled by Ivy League due to COVID-19 pandemic.
2019-20
As a sophomore, led the Lions with season-best 21-2 overall singles record and 12-8 combined doubles record … Played primarily at the No. 2 and No. 3 singles positions … Led the Lions in wins (21), dual match wins (9), and winning percentage (.913) … Finished 9-0 in dual matches, 12-2 in tournament play, and 15-2 vs. regional opponents … Went 5-0 at No. 3 singles … Concluded year on 11-match singles win streak from Nov. 2 through Feb. 28 … Went 5-0 at No. 3 singles and 3-0 at No. 2 singles … Teamed with Christie Wan for an 8-4 doubles record … Went 1-2 in doubles with Shivani Amineni, 1-0 with Jennifer Kerr, 2-1 vs. Julia Haynes and 0-1 vs. Michelle Xu … Advanced to the Northeast Regional final four/semifinals with a 3-1 record from Oct. 19-21 … Won Northwestern Wildcat Invitational B singles title … Won Staten Island title at Columbia Invitational … Defeated one nationally-ranked opponent on the year: Boston College’s Yufei Long.
2018-19
As a first-year, finished with a 20-9 overall singles record and 12-7 overall doubles record … Saw action primarily at the No. 4 singles position (8-5) and No. 3 doubles position with teammate Jennifer Kerr … Led the Lions in singles victories (20) and dual match singles victories (13) … Went 7-4 in tournament play, 4-3 in Ivy League matches … Posted an 8-5 record at No. 4 singles … Teamed with Jennifer Kerr for a 6-4 overall doubles record and 3-2 record at No. 3 doubles … Gained a reputation for winning Columbia’s match-clinching victories.
HIGH SCHOOL
A 2018 graduate of American Heritage High School in Delray Beach, Fla. where she played four years of varsity tennis for Head Coach Brian Schleifer … Five-star/Blue Chip recruit … Ranked the nation’s No. 8 recruit by TennisRecruiting.net … Ranked among the nation’s top-20 players in the Class of 2018 … Rated the No. 1 player in the state of Florida and No. 2 player in the Southeast for the Class of 2018 … Amassed a record of 33-8 in singles competition … Undefeated in singles play at the National Team Championships in Claremont, Calif. … Fort Myers Level 3 national champion … Level 2 national finalist in Lake Worth, Fla. … Accumulated a 29-5 overall USTA record … Three-time Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel All-Palm Beach County pick … At the high school level, won the 2018 individual singles state title and captured the doubles title while leading American Heritage to the 2018 Class 2A Florida State championship as a senior in 2018 … Guided the Stallions to four consecutive Class 2A Florida state championship appearances (2015-18) … Also led her team to five consecutive district and regional championships since eighth grade … Two-time team captain … Won multiple state and national tournaments since she was 12.
PERSONAL
Born Melissa Aiko Sakar on August 4, 2000 in Lauderdale Lakes, Fla. … Daughter of Mehmet and Keiko Sakar … Father is Turkish and mother is Japanese … Speaks both Turkish and Japanese and has traveled to both countries many times … Father is her coach … Hobbies and interests include finding and trying new restaurants and cafes since she is an unofficial food critic …Favorite sports figure: Roger Federer … Role models are her parents since they sacrificed everything for her to achieve her goals … Chose Columbia because she loves the atmosphere and because of its stellar academics, vibrant location, amazing athletics and diverse student body … Knew Columbia was the right fit for her after visiting campus, meeting the people and the team and coaches … Chose Columbia over offers from Brown, Dartmouth, Penn, Northwestern, Boston College, Yale, Harvard and Princeton … Future career plans including working in the international business/government sector … Enrolled at Columbia College … Majors in Earth Institute with a degree in Sustainable Management.
YEAR-BY-YEAR STATISTICS
|
SINGLES |
DOUBLES |
| Year |
Overall |
Dual |
Tour |
Ivy |
Overall |
Ivy |
| 2018-19 |
20-9 |
13-5 |
7-4 |
4-3 |
12-7 |
2-2 |
| 2019-20 |
21-2 |
9-0 |
12-2 |
0-0 |
12-8 |
0-0 |
| 2020-21 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
| 2021-22 |
16-10 |
12-4 |
4-6 |
6-1 |
6-16 |
0-4 |
| Career |
57-21 |
34-9 |
23-12 |
10-4 |
30-21 |
2-6 |
