Lina Gjorcheska waited 15 years and 13 Grand Slam qualifying attempts for one week that changed her career.
At Wimbledon 2026, the 31-year-old became the first player from North Macedonia to reach a Grand Slam singles main draw, and the payday nearly matched a fifth of her lifetime earnings.
Lina Gjorcheska’s Biography
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Lina Gjorcheska (Лина Ѓорческа) |
| Date of Birth | August 3, 1994 |
| Age | 31 |
| Birthplace | Tetovo, North Macedonia |
| Nationality | Macedonian |
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) |
| Plays | Right-handed (two-handed backhand) |
| Current WTA Singles Ranking | No. 222 |
| Career-High Singles Ranking | No. 170 (June 12, 2017) |
| Career-High Doubles Ranking | No. 116 (June 12, 2017) |
| Turned Professional | 2011 |
| Years Active | 2011–present |
| ITF Titles | 15 singles, 47 doubles |
| Grand Slam Titles | 0 |
| Career Prize Money | $635,000+ (estimated, including Wimbledon 2026) |
| Net Worth | $400,000 (estimated) |
Early Life and Tennis Journey
Lina Gjorcheska was born on August 3, 1994, in Tetovo, a city in northwestern North Macedonia. She grew up in an athletic household as the daughter of two volleyball players.
She chose tennis instead of following her parents onto the volleyball court. That decision set her on one of the hardest paths in professional sport, because North Macedonia offered almost no tennis infrastructure and no national federation funding.
Gjorcheska began competing on the ITF Circuit in 2011, playing almost exclusively on clay and carpet courts across the Balkans. She won her first professional title in 2012 at a $10K event in Arad, Romania.
Her junior-to-professional transition was entirely self-funded. According to the WTA Tour’s feature on her Wimbledon qualifying breakthrough, she carved out her career alone, battling injuries and financial struggles along the way.
By 2016, she was ready for the biggest stage. She entered her first Grand Slam qualifying draw at the US Open, losing to Catherine Bellis in the opening round.
Professional Tennis Career
Gjorcheska’s breakout season came in 2017. She reached the final round of Australian Open qualifying, cheered on by the Macedonian diaspora in Melbourne.
Three months later, she became the first North Macedonian to compete in a WTA main draw, entering the Ladies Open Biel Bienne as a lucky loser. She lost to eventual champion Marketa Vondrousova but climbed to a career-high ranking of No. 170 that June.
From 2018 to 2025, she grinded on the ITF Circuit, collecting 15 singles titles and 47 doubles titles. Her biggest scalp came in 2022, when she beat Top 100 player Panna Udvardy at the Ceska Lipa W75 event.
She has also been a dominant force for her country in the Billie Jean King Cup, compiling a 30–7 win-loss record. Her doubles career included a WTA 125 final at Ljubljana in 2024 alongside Jil Teichmann.
Everything changed at Wimbledon 2026. On her 13th Grand Slam qualifying attempt, Gjorcheska defeated Angela Fita Boluda, Francisca Jorge, and former Top 50 player Lucia Bronzetti to qualify for the main draw.
She became the first player from North Macedonia, male or female, to appear in a Grand Slam singles main draw.
Remarkably, her three qualifying wins at Roehampton were her first professional victories on grass, a surface her home country does not have a single court of.
In the first round, she faced No. 6 seed Amanda Anisimova, the first opponent of her career ranked inside the world’s top 40. Anisimova won 6-3, 6-2 in 61 minutes, as covered in the WTA’s Day 2 Wimbledon report, but the result did nothing to dim a historic fortnight.
Lina Gjorcheska’s Net Worth Details
As of 2026, Lina Gjorcheska’s has an estimated net worth of $400,000.
She built this figure almost entirely through on-court prize money earned across 15 seasons on the ITF Circuit, WTA qualifying draws, and Billie Jean King Cup competition.
Career Prize Money
Before Wimbledon 2026, Gjorcheska’s career prize money stood at $525,499. That figure covered roughly 15 years of professional tennis, an average of about $35,000 per season before expenses.
Her first-round appearance at Wimbledon changed the math overnight. First-round losers at the 2026 Championships earned £80,000, roughly $110,000, after the All England Club announced a record £64.2 million prize fund, detailed in the official Wimbledon 2026 prize money breakdown.
As UBITENNIS reported from Wimbledon, that single result boosted her career earnings to approximately $635,000. It was comfortably the largest cheque of her career, dwarfing anything available at the ITF level where most of her titles came at $10K and $25K events.
Her 2026 season earnings, driven by the Wimbledon run and her ITF results, represent her best financial year as a professional.
Career Earnings By Year
| Season | Win/Loss | Earnings Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 14–11 | Best earning season of her career; Wimbledon first round alone paid roughly $110,000 |
| 2025 | 41–23 | Won 2 ITF singles titles; income from ITF Circuit and WTA 125 events |
| 2024 | 27–25 | Reached 2 ITF singles finals; WTA 125 doubles final at Ljubljana |
| 2023 | 42–24 | Earnings drawn primarily from ITF clay-court events |
| 2022 | 35–22 | Season highlighted by a Top 100 win over Panna Udvardy at Ceska Lipa W75 |
| 2021 | 32–20 | ITF Circuit income plus Portoroz WTA qualifying appearance |
| 2020 | 15–8 | Reduced schedule during the pandemic-shortened season |
| 2011–2019 | — | Cumulative earnings from ITF events, starting with her first title at Arad in 2012 |
Career Statistics
| Statistic | Record |
|---|---|
| Singles Career Record | 466–269 |
| ITF Singles Titles | 15 |
| Doubles Career Record | 312–106 |
| ITF Doubles Titles | 47 |
| Grand Slam Main Draws | 1 (Wimbledon 2026) |
| Grand Slam Qualifying Appearances | 13 |
| Billie Jean King Cup Record | 30–7 |
| Career-High Singles Ranking | No. 170 (2017) |
| Career-High Doubles Ranking | No. 116 (2017) |
FAQs
What is Lina Gjorcheska’s net worth?
Lina Gjorcheska has an estimated net worth of $400,000. Her wealth comes almost entirely from career prize money of over $635,000, earned mostly on the ITF Circuit.
How much prize money has Lina Gjorcheska earned?
She has earned approximately $635,000 in career prize money. Her Wimbledon 2026 first-round appearance alone added roughly $110,000, the biggest single payday of her 15-year professional career.
Why is Lina Gjorcheska famous?
She became the first player from North Macedonia to compete in a Grand Slam singles main draw. She achieved the milestone at Wimbledon 2026 by winning three qualifying matches at age 31.
How many titles has Lina Gjorcheska won?
She has won 62 professional titles on the ITF Circuit, comprising 15 in singles and 47 in doubles. Her first singles title came in 2012 at a $10K event in Arad, Romania.
What is Lina Gjorcheska’s highest ranking?
Her career-high WTA singles ranking is No. 170, achieved on June 12, 2017. She also reached No. 116 in doubles on the same date, and she currently ranks No. 222 in singles.
