University of Virginia tennis player, and recent graduate, Natasha Subhash has had a fascinating journey with tennis before she stepped foot onto UVA’s campus.
Unlike most college athletes, Subhash played her sport professionally as a teen. She played both singles and doubles on the ITF World Tennis Tour, a development circuit for the World Tennis Association.
The Washington City Paper reported that Subhash’s parents immigrated to the United States from India in 1997. They worked tirelessly to afford the necessary expenses for Natasha’s tennis career, as junior tennis players are “parent-sponsored” rather than sponsored by companies. Natasha herself decided to take classes online from the age of 14 to devote more time to tennis.
The Subhash family’s sacrifices paid off: Natasha won two singles titles and two doubles titles before deciding to play for the University of Virginia in 2019. Subhash was the top women’s tennis recruit in all of Virginia that year.
At UVA, Subhash continued her winning ways. She is a three-time ITA Singles All-American (2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22) and also won the ITA Doubles All-American title in 2021. Subhash was named the ITA Rookie of the Year in 2020. In her senior season (2022-23), she received the Cindy Brinker Simmons Endowed Scholarship for Women’s Tennis.
Subhash is just as dominant in the classroom as she is on the court. She was named UVA Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year not once but twice. On top of that, she was the first UVA women’s tennis player to be selected for the 2022 CoSida Academic All-America Second Team.
While Subhash has not said whether she will return to professional tennis after graduating in spring 2023, she should be proud of her accomplishments both professionally and scholastically.