Frenchwoman Melissa Alves has risen up the rankings over the last few years, and made her way into the top 20 for the first time in December 2021.

Her career started back in 2010, and she made the semi finals of her third ever tournament, the German Open. Alves also made the quarters of the Greek Open, before then taking an extended break from the game.

She returned in 2015, reaching the final of her first tournament back, but she lost out to Marie Stephan in the final of the Montreal Open. The Frenchwoman also made the quarter finals of the Livestuff Open the same year, before having another break from the game.

When Alves came back in 2017, she had immediate success, winning four of her first eight tournaments. She took the title at the Grand Sport Armenia 2nd Challenger W5, her first ever PSA World Tour title.

The Frenchwoman then also went on to taste victory at the Faletti’s Hotel International Squash Championship, Val de Marne and the Contrex Squash Challenge Cup. Further solid performances over the rest of the 2018-2019 season saw Alves break the top 50 of the World Rankings for the first time in her career.

Alves lifted the Nash Cup in 2019, and then reached the last eight of the Detroit Pro Classic, to go along with a string of second appearances on the PSA World Tour, including Platinum level events in Egypt and the United States. Her first outing of 2021 came on the Challenger Tour, where she won the PSA Squash95 Paris tournament.

She followed that up with another victory, at the Le Havre PSA Challenger, just a month later, before then reaching the quarter finals of the Squash on Fire Open in Washington, D.C. Later that year, she reach a first Platinum quarter final, at the U.S. Open presented by Truist, before then making the final of the Czech Open. Those results saw her move into the top 20 in the World Rankings for the first time.

Alves did not feature until May of 2022, but she started well, making it into the last 16 of the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions. She also made the last 32 of the CIB PSA World Championships before making the semis of the RMCLUB Women’s Open presented by Expression Networks.

Alves started the new season well, with a quarter final appearance at the CIB Zed Squash Open. She then followed that with a third round appearance at the CIB Egyptian Open before also making the last 16 of the Grasshopper Cup. The Frenchwoman then made the last eight in Kuala Lumpur, before finishing 2022 with a victory, claiming the title at the Challenger 20 level Monte Carlo Classic.

The Frenchwoman started 2023 with a third round appearance at the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions, before making the semis of both the Chestnut Hill Classic and the Richmond Open, as she flirted with the world’s top 20 and her career-high of World No.19 through the midpoint of the year.