# Akira Santillan

Akira Santillan (アキラ サンティラン, Santiran Akira, born 22 May 1997) is an Australian tennis player. He represents Australia in competitions, though he played for Japan from 2015 to 2017.

## Early life

Santillan was born in Tokyo to a Japanese mother and a South African father of Spanish descent. He lived the first 8 years of his life in Japan before his family relocated to the Gold Coast, Australia and became citizens. He played much of his junior tennis at the Gold Coast before moving to Brisbane to join the national academy program at the Queensland Tennis Centre.

## Junior career

On the junior tour, Santillan has a career high ITF junior ranking of 7 achieved in September 2015. Santillan's major highlights on the junior tour included a semi-final at the 2015 Australian Open and doubles finals at the 2014 French Open and the 2015 Wimbledon Championships.
In March 2015, Santillan opted to play under the Japanese flag instead due to a fractious relationship with Tennis Australia. He returned to playing under the Australian flag in 2017.

### Junior Grand Slam finals
#### Doubles

| Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponent | Score |
| Loss | 2014 | French Open | Clay | Lucas Miedler | Benjamin Bonzi Quentin Halys | 3–6, 3–6 |
| Loss | 2015 | Wimbledon | Grass | Reilly Opelka | Lý Hoàng Nam Sumit Nagal | 6–7$^{(4–7)}$, 4–6 |

## Professional career

Santillan has a career high ATP singles ranking of 160 achieved on 24 July 2017. He also has a career high ATP doubles ranking of 265 achieved also on 17 July 2017. Santillan has won 6 ITF Futures singles titles and 1 ITF Futures doubles title.
Santillan made his ATP main draw debut at the 2016 Generali Open Kitzbühel, receiving singles and doubles main draw wildcards.
Santillan lost in the first round of the 2022 Australian Open – Men's singles qualifying.

## Challenger and Futures/World Tennis Tour finals
### Singles: 14 (8–6)

* Legend (singles)
* ATP Challenger Tour (1–0)
* ITF Futures/World Tennis Tour (7–6)
* Titles by surface
* Hard (8–5)
* Clay (0–1)
* Grass (0–0)
* Carpet (0–0)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Win | 1–0 | Apr 2015 | Thailand F1, Bangkok | Futures | Hard | Kento Takeuchi | 6–3, 6–2 |
| Loss | 1–1 | May 2015 | Thailand F2, Bangkok | Futures | Hard | Andre Dome | 4–6, 7–6$^{(9–7)}$, 1–6 |
| Win | 2–1 | Apr 2016 | Spain F7, Madrid | Futures | Hard | Steven Diez | 6–4, 7–6$^{(7–5)}$ |
| Loss | 2–2 | Apr 2016 | Spain F11, Mostoles | Futures | Hard | Antoine Escoffier | 4–6, 7–6$^{(7–5)}$, 3–6 |
| Win | 3–2 | May 2016 | China F7, Wuhan | Futures | Hard | Chung Yun-seong | 6–1, 6–4 |
| Win | 4–2 | May 2016 | China F8, Luan | Futures | Hard | Finn Tearney | 6–3, 1–6, 6–4 |
| Win | 5–2 | Jun 2016 | Spain F18, Palma del Río | Futures | Hard | Rémi Boutillier | 7–5, 6–3 |
| Win | 6–2 | Dec 2016 | Spain F39, Cuevas del Almanzora | Futures | Hard | Roberto Ortega Olmedo | 6–1, 6–1 |
| Win | 7–2 | Jul 2017 | Winnetka, USA | Challenger | Hard | Ramkumar Ramanathan | 7–6$^{(7–1)}$, 6–2 |
| Loss | 7-3 | Feb 2022 | M25 Canberra, Australia | World Tennis Tour | Hard | Dane Sweeny | 3–6, 6–4, 5–7 |
| Loss | 7-4 | May 2022 | M25 Monastir, Tunisia | World Tennis Tour | Hard | Yasutaka Uchiyama | 6-7$^{(3–7)}$, 7-6$^{(7–5)}$, 3–6 |
| Win | 8-4 | May 2022 | M25 Monastir, Tunisia | World Tennis Tour | Hard | Li Zhe | 2-6, 7-6$^{(7–3)}$, 6–2 |
| Loss | 8-5 | Jun 2022 | M25 Mungia, Spain | World Tennis Tour | Clay | Inaki Montes-De La Torre | 3-6, 5–7 |
| Loss | 8-6 | Mar 2023 | M25 Portimão, Portugal | World Tennis Tour | Hard | Gonçalo Oliveira | 6-7$^{(2–7)}$, 4–6 |

### Doubles: 17 (9–8)

* Legend (doubles)
* ATP Challenger Tour (2–5)
* ITF Futures/World Tennis Tour (7–3)
* Titles by surface
* Hard (8–5)
* Clay (1–3)
* Grass (0–0)
* Carpet (0–0)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Loss | 0–1 | Mar 2016 | Spain F6, Tarragona | Futures | Clay | Gonçalo Oliveira | Marc López Jaume Munar | 7–6$^{(7–4)}$, 3–6, [7–10] |
| Loss | 0–2 | Apr 2016 | Spain F8, Madrid | Futures | Hard | Carlos Gómez-Herrera | Carlos Boluda-Purkiss Alex de Minaur | 4–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 1–2 | May 2016 | China F7, Wuhan | Futures | Hard | Harry Bourchier | He Yecong Wang Aoxiong | 4–6, 6–2, [10–7] |
| Loss | 1–3 | Jul 2016 | Segovia, Spain | Challenger | Hard (i) | Joaquín Muñoz Hernández | Purav Raja Divij Sharan | 3–6, 6–4, [8–10] |
| Loss | 1–4 | Oct 2016 | Ningbo, China, P.R. | Challenger | Hard | Stefan Kozlov | Jonathan Eysseric Sergiy Stakhovsky | 4–6, 6–7$^{(4–7)}$ |
| Win | 2–4 | Dec 2016 | Spain F39, Cuevas del Almanzora | Futures | Hard | Peter Bothwell | Roberto Ortega Olmedo David Vega Hernández | 6–2, 5–7, [10–2] |
| Win | 3–4 | May 2018 | Savannah, USA | Challenger | Clay | Luke Bambridge | Enrique López Pérez Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan | 6–2, 6–2 |
| Loss | 3–5 | Sep 2018 | Zhangjiagang, China, P.R. | Challenger | Hard | Bradley Mousley | Gong Maoxin Zhang Ze | w/o |
| Win | 4–5 | Nov 2018 | Kobe, Japan | Challenger | Hard (i) | Gonçalo Oliveira | Li Zhe Go Soeda | 2–6, 6–4, [12–10] |
| Loss | 4–6 | Apr 2019 | Nanchang, China, P.R. | Challenger | Clay (i) | Alex Bolt | Sander Arends Tristan-Samuel Weissborn | 2–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 5–6 | Feb 2022 | M25, Canberra, Australia | World Tennis Tour | Hard | Rubin Statham | Calum Puttergill Naoki Tajima | 6–4, 6–3 |
| Win | 6–6 | Mar 2022 | M25, Bendigo, Australia | World Tennis Tour | Hard | Philip Sekulic | Dane Sweeny Li Tu | 7–5, 6–7$^{(7–9)}$, [10–7] |
| Loss | 6–7 | Mar 2022 | M25, Medellín, Colombia | World Tennis Tour | Clay | Rubin Statham | Benjamin Lock Courtney John Lock | 6−4, 4−6, [6−10] |
| Win | 7–7 | May 2022 | M15, Monastir, Tunisia | World Tennis Tour | Hard | Skander Mansouri | Xin Gao Zhe Li | 6–3, 6–0 |
| Win | 8–7 | May 2022 | M25, Monastir, Tunisia | World Tennis Tour | Hard | Aziz Dougaz | Théo Arribagé Luca Sanchez | 7–6$^{(7−1)}$, 7–6$^{(7−3)}$ |
| Win | 9–7 | Jun 2022 | M25, Martos, Spain | World Tennis Tour | Hard | James Frawley | Adria Soriano Barrera Benjamin Winter Lopez | 6–7$^{(7−9)}$, 6–3, [10−6] |
| Loss | 9–8 | Jan 2023 | Nonthaburi, Thailand | Challenger | Hard | Christopher Rungkat | Yuki Bhambri Saketh Myneni | 6–2, 6–7$^{(7–9)}$, [12–14] |