# Hayley Carter

Hayley Nicole Carter (born May 17, 1995) is an American former professional tennis player. She has a career-high WTA doubles ranking of No. 25, which she achieved on 14 June 2021. Carter is primarily a doubles player. Over her career, she won two WTA Tour and two WTA 125 doubles titles, with nine titles on the ITF Women's Circuit.

## Junior career

Carter played at the Smith Stearn's Tennis Academy growing up. She also won a record 14 South Carolina state championships. Between 2009 and 2012, she won three ITF Junior Circuit singles titles and one doubles title.
Carter played collegiate tennis for the North Carolina Tar Heels, where she earned All-American honors each of the four years she competed. She is the Atlantic Coast Conference's all-time leader in women's tennis singles victories with 168.

## Professional career
### 2019: New partnership with Stefani, first WTA Tour title

In September 2019, with Luisa Stefani as partner, she reached her first doubles final on the WTA Tour at the Korea Open, and the following week, they won their first WTA Tour title at the Tashkent Open. Thereafter, Carter established a fixed partnership with Stefani.

### 2020: Top 40 debut

The Carter/Stefani duo reached the third round for the first time at a major at the 2020 Australian Open where they were defeated by sixth seeded duo Gabriela Dabrowski/Jeļena Ostapenko.
They won the title at the Newport Beach Challenger, which was the second year in a row that Carter had won this event (with Ena Shibahara in 2019). They also reached the Dubai Tennis Championships quarterfinals in February, and won the Lexington Open in August. With that, they entered the top 40 for the first time.
At the Italian Open, they had another great tournament reaching the semifinals and losing only to the top seeds Hsieh/Strycová.
The pair's best result at a Grand Slam championship came at the US Open where they reached the quarterfinals, defeating the No. 6 seeds, Japan duo of Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara, in the round of 16.

### 2021: WTA 1000 doubles final and top 25, coaching

Carter reached her best result at the WTA 1000 level by becoming a doubles finalist alongside Stefani in Miami, where they were defeated by the fifth-seeded duo Aoyama/Shibahara. Following Wimbledon, she joined the coaching staff of the Vanderbilt Commodores college team in July 2021. Through the rest of the year, she took part in three WTA tournaments in the US: the Cincinnati Open with Sabrina Santamaria, the US Open with Astra Sharma, and Indian Wells Open with Dabrowski.

### 2023

Carter returned to the University of North Carolina as an assistant coach in July 2023.

## Grand Slam performance timelines

Key :
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | P# | DNQ | A | Z# | PO | G | S | B | NMS | NTI | P | NH |

### Women's doubles

| Tournament | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | SR | W–L |
| Australian Open | A | 3R | 3R | 0 / 2 | 4–2 |
| French Open | A | 3R | 1R | 0 / 2 | 2–2 |
| Wimbledon | A | NH | 1R | 0 / 1 | 0–1 |
| US Open | 1R | QF | 1R | 0 / 3 | 3–3 |
| Win–loss | 0–1 | 7–3 | 2–4 | 0 / 8 | 9–8 |

### Mixed doubles

| Tournament | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | SR | W–L |
| Australian Open | A | A | QF | 0 / 1 | 2–1 |
| French Open | A | NH | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 |
| Wimbledon | A | NH | 3R | 0 / 1 | 1–1 |
| US Open | 2R | NH | 1R | 0 / 2 | 1–2 |
| Win–loss | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–3 | 0 / 4 | 4–4 |

## Significant finals
### WTA 1000 tournaments
#### Doubles: 1 (runner-up)

| Result | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Loss | 2021 | Miami Open | Hard | Luisa Stefani | Shuko Aoyama Ena Shibahara | 2–6, 5–7 |

## WTA Tour finals
### Doubles: 8 (2 titles, 6 runner-ups)

* Legend
* Grand Slam tournaments
* Premier M & Premier 5 / WTA 1000 (0–1)
* Premier / WTA 500 (0–2)
* International / WTA 250 (2–3)
* Finals by surface
* Hard (2–4)
* Grass (0–0)
* Clay (0–2)
* Carpet (0–0)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Loss | 0–1 | Apr 2019 | Copa Colsanitas, Colombia | International | Clay | Ena Shibahara | Zoe Hives Astra Sharma | 1–6, 2–6 |
| Loss | 0–2 | Sep 2019 | Korea Open, South Korea | International | Hard | Luisa Stefani | Lara Arruabarrena Tatjana Maria | 6–7$^{(7–9)}$, 6–3, [7–10] |
| Win | 1–2 | Sep 2019 | Tashkent Open, Uzbekistan | International | Hard | Luisa Stefani | Dalila Jakupović Sabrina Santamaria | 6–3, 7–6$^{(7–4)}$ |
| Win | 2–2 | Aug 2020 | Lexington Open, United States | International | Hard | Luisa Stefani | Marie Bouzková Jil Teichmann | 6–1, 7–5 |
| Loss | 2–3 | Sep 2020 | Internationaux de Strasbourg, France | International | Clay | Luisa Stefani | Nicole Melichar Demi Schuurs | 4–6, 3–6 |
| Loss | 2–4 | Jan 2021 | Abu Dhabi Open, United Arab Emirates | WTA 500 | Hard | Luisa Stefani | Shuko Aoyama Ena Shibahara | 6–7$^{(5–7)}$, 4–6 |
| Loss | 2–5 | Feb 2021 | Adelaide International, Australia | WTA 500 | Hard | Luisa Stefani | Alexa Guarachi Desirae Krawczyk | 7–6$^{(7–4)}$, 4–6, [3–10] |
| Loss | 2–6 | Apr 2021 | Miami Open, United States | WTA 1000 | Hard | Luisa Stefani | Shuko Aoyama Ena Shibahara | 2–6, 5–7 |

## WTA Challenger finals
### Doubles: 3 (2 titles, 1 runner-up)

| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Win | 1–0 | Jan 2019 | Newport Beach Challenger, United States | Hard | Ena Shibahara | Taylor Townsend Yanina Wickmayer | 6–3, 7–6$^{(1)}$ |
| Win | 2–0 | Feb 2020 | Newport Beach Challenger, United States (2) | Hard | Luisa Stefani | Marie Benoît Jessika Ponchet | 6–1, 6–3 |
| Loss | 1–2 | May 2021 | Open de Saint-Malo, France | Clay | Luisa Stefani | Kaitlyn Christian Sabrina Santamaria | 6–7$^{(4)}$, 6–4, [5–10] |

## ITF Circuit finals

* Legend
* $60,000 tournaments
* $25,000 tournaments
* $10,000 tournaments

### Singles: 2 (2 runner–ups)

| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Loss | 0–1 | May 2013 | ITF Hilton Head, United States | 10,000 | Hard | Yana Koroleva | 5–7, 4–6 |
| Loss | 0–2 | Aug 2014 | ITF Fort Worth, United States | 10,000 | Hard | Tatjana Maria | 1–6, 1–6 |

### Doubles: 14 (9 titles, 5 runner–ups)

| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Loss | 0–1 | Oct 2012 | ITF Florence, United States | 25,000 | Hard | Brooke Austin | Ulrikke Eikeri Akiko Omae | 1–6, 1–6 |
| Loss | 0–2 | May 2013 | ITF Hilton Head, United States | 10,000 | Hard | Josie Kuhlman | Kristy Frilling Alexandra Mueller | 3–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 1–2 | Jul 2014 | ITF Fort Worth, United States | 10,000 | Hard | Stefanie Tan | Catherine Harrison Mary Weatherholt | 6–3, 6–3 |
| Win | 2–2 | Jun 2018 | ITF Baton Rouge, United States | 25,000 | Hard | Ena Shibahara | Astra Sharma Gabriela Talabă | 6–3, 6–4 |
| Win | 3–2 | Aug 2018 | Lexington Challenger, United States | 60,000 | Hard | Ena Shibahara | Sanaz Marand Victoria Rodríguez | 6–3, 6–1 |
| Loss | 3–3 | Sep 2018 | ITF Lubbock, United States | 25,000 | Hard | Vladica Babić | Naomi Broady Nadia Podoroska | 6–3, 6–4 |
| Win | 4–3 | Oct 2018 | Stockton Challenger, United States | 60,000 | Hard | Ena Shibahara | Quinn Gleason Luisa Stefani | 7–5, 5–7, [10–7] |
| Win | 5–3 | Feb 2019 | Rancho Santa Fe Open, United States | 25,000 | Hard | Ena Shibahara | Francesca Di Lorenzo Caty McNally | 7–5, 6–2 |
| Win | 6–3 | Jun 2019 | ITF Bethany Beach, United States | 25,000 | Clay | Usue Maitane Arconada | Dea Herdželaš Tereza Mihalíková | 6–4, 6–4 |
| Loss | 6–4 | Jun 2019 | ITF Sumter, United States | 25,000 | Hard | Vladica Babić | Brynn Boren Caitlin Whoriskey | 4–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 7–4 | Jun 2019 | ITF Denver, United States | 25,000 | Hard | Vladica Babić | Brynn Boren Gail Brodsky | 6–2, 6–3 |
| Win | 8–4 | Jul 2019 | Championships of Honolulu, United States | 60,000 | Hard | Jamie Loeb | Usue Maitane Arconada Caroline Dolehide | 6–4, 6–4 |
| Loss | 9–4 | Aug 2019 | Landisville Tennis Challenge, United States | 60,000 | Hard | Jamie Loeb | Vania King Claire Liu | 6–4, 2–6, [5–10] |
| Win | 9–5 | Nov 2019 | Copa Santiago, Chile | 60,000 | Clay | Luisa Stefani | Anna Danilina Conny Perrin | 5–7, 6–3, [10–6] |

## World TeamTennis

Carter made her World TeamTennis debut in 2020.