Over the past two seasons, at least 10 players have changed their nationalities. Notably, most of them are either Russian-born or have Russian roots and seek an opportunity to play elsewhere. Hence, when Destanee Aiava added her name to that list, it was no short of a surprise.

The former World No. 147, Destanee Aiava, has now switched her nationality from Australia to New Zealand.

Aiava was born in Melbourne to a mother from American Samoa and a Kiwi father of Samoan descent. This is why she has gained eligibility to represent New Zealand on the tour. Having become a pro in 2015, Aiava represented Australia for 11 years. She would go on to make her Grand Slam debut just two years later at the 2017 Australian Open. This made her the first player born in 2000 or later to participate in the main draw of a major.

Aiava is a well-known figure on the ITF circuit, winning 10 singles and 14 doubles titles. Though she wasn’t able to replicate the same success on the WTA tour, she still remained among the highest-ranked women’s players from Australia for years. As a result, this was quite an unexpected decision as the 26-year-old had announced in February that this would be her last year on the tour and she would be for her peace of mind as, it turns out that Aiava herself never really liked the sport.

The decision to hang up her racket at such a young age stems from the fact that over the years, Aiava has suffered racial abuse on the court, which has only facilitated her dislike of tennis. “On court I’ve been called a ‘monkey’ and ‘transgender,'” she had told CLAY in an interview in February 2026.

Opening up on her decision to retire early, Aiava remarked that she has never loved her job and feels that it isn’t worth doing day after day.

“I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed this sport. The only reason I enjoyed it was because of the good things that came with it. And for me personally, that’s not worth waking up every day and hating my job and basically living a lie. I’m getting hundreds of people coming up to me saying, ‘You must love it.’ Some days, honestly, I would have rather done anything else but hit on a tennis court,” she stated in the interview.

Aiava further said that being a woman of color only made matters worse for her from the get-go. She has faced severe online abuse at times and has also been heckled by the crowd on multiple occasions.

“Being a woman of color in this sport that’s predominantly white, it’s been a big struggle from the get-go. There’s not been one time where I felt like I belonged in this sport because of my color. It’s always going to be harder for us and that’s just the reality. Even if I wasn’t a woman, it’s still going to be harder if I was Brown or Asian or Black. From the online abuse and people in the stands during my matches heckling me there’s so many instances that equated to my retirement post,” she further said.

Currently ranked No. 528, Aiava’s last significant appearance had come at the Australian Open earlier this year. She had entered the tournament as a qualifier, but had recorded a 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 defeat against Harriet Dart in the first qualifying round. The 26-year-old had also formed a pair with Maddison Inglis for the doubles draw, but they had gotten knocked out in the first round against Aldila Sutjiadi and Giuliana Olmos.

Though Aiava’s tennis career may soon be coming to a close, she has already decided to switch to a new sport and has started preparing for it.

Destanee Aiava to make the switch to netball after walking away from tennis

Shortly after announcing her retirement from tennis, Aiava revealed that she is preparing for a netball bib. Netball is a widely popular team sport in Australia, especially among women.

Turns out that the sport has been a part of Aiava’s plans for a long time. She had always considered netball to be her second sport and had planned on making the switch if things didn’t materialize for her in tennis.

“I actually have my first netball training session on Thursday night, which I’m so excited for,” she had shared on social media. “Super random for people who don’t know me, I know. My plan was always to find a team sport to play when I did finish. I always said if I wasn’t playing tennis as my sport, I would be playing netball.”

Having switched her nationality to New Zealand for the remainder of the season, it remains to be seen if Aiava will be able to make one more appearance at a Grand Slam.