Women’s Tennis’ Zhiyenbayeva Representing Kazakhstan at 2026 Asian Games
9/28/2026 8:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
AICHI-NAGOYA, JAPAN. — Pepperdine women's tennis sophomore Sonja Zhiyenbayeva is representing Kazakhstan on the international stage at the 20th Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026 in Japan.
The Asian Games are one the biggest sports competitions in Asia, held once every four years. They are organized by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), and have 45 participating countries or regions.
Tennis competition at the Asian Games is being held at the Nagoya City Higashiyama Park Tennis Center in Nagoya, Japan. The event features men's and women's singles and doubles competition along with mixed doubles.
Zhiyenbayeva opened singles competition Sunday with a straight-set victory over Hong Kong's Adithya Karunaratne, 6-1, 7-5, to advance to the Round of 16. She is set to contest doubles alongside Zhibek Kulambayeva, beginning with a first round matchup against Tajikistan.
This continues a busy stretch of international competition for Zhiyenbayeva, who represented Kazakhstan at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Shenzhen, China, this past week. She competed in singles against Spain's Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in the quarterfinals on Sept. 23.
Zhiyenbayeva has also continued to climb the professional rankings throughout the summer, reaching a career-high WTA singles ranking of No. 382 earlier this month. In August, she captured the biggest professional singles title of her career at the ITF W75 Ourense in Spain.
Zhiyembayeva is coming off a standout freshman campaign in Malibu for the Waves. She was named the WCC Freshman of the Year and earned All-WCC first team honors in both singles and doubles. She finished the season with a 16-3 singles record and a 14-4 doubles mark while helping Pepperdine advance to the NCAA quarterfinals. Zhiyenbayeva was also named the ITA Southwest Region Player to Watch following the season.
For more information on tennis at the 2026 Asian Games, including full draws and results, visit here.
ABOUT PEPPERDINE WOMEN'S TENNIS
Pepperdine women's tennis has been a consistent powerhouse in the collegiate scene, reaching 41 NCAA Tournaments since 1982 including 29 straight appearances. Since 2018, the program has seen three national runner-ups between both singles and doubles while reaching an NCAA Super Regional as a team nine times in the past ten tournaments. The success at the conference level has been paramount with 34 WCC Championships including an active streak of 12 consecutive conference titles. With its 24 total All-Americans, the program has also consistently sent players to the pro circuit following their time in Malibu.
FOLLOW
To stay up-to-date on the latest Pepperdine women's tennis news, follow the Waves on social media @PepperdineWTEN.
