Naoko Sawamatsu

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Naoko Sawamatsu (沢松奈生子, Sawamatsu Naoko, born on 23 March 1973) is a former professional tennis player.

Naoko Sawamatsu
沢松奈生子
Country (sports) Japan
ResidenceNishinomiya, Japan
Born (1973-03-23) 23 March 1973 (age 51)
Nishinomiya, Japan
PlaysRight-handed
Prize money$1,107,264
Singles
Career record205–43
Career titles4 WTA, 2 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 14 (6 February 1995)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian OpenQF (1995)
French Open4R (1991)
Wimbledon4R (1992, 1994)
US Open3R (1992, 1995)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games2R (1996)
Doubles
Career record16–34
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 98 (30 January 1995)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open3R (1995)
French Open1R (1992)
Wimbledon2R (1992)
US Open1R (1992)

In her career, she won four singles titles on the WTA Tour. Sawamatsu reached a career-high ranking of world No. 14, on 6 February 1995. At the time of the 1995 Australian Open, her family survived the Great Hanshin earthquake, and Sawamatsu went on to achieve her best Grand Slam result at Melbourne Park, reaching the quarterfinals by defeating compatriot Ai Sugiyama, Laurence Courtois, Kimiko Date in the third round, Mary Joe Fernandez in the fourth round before losing to Arantxa Sánchez Vicario.

Her most significant title came in 1993 at Strasbourg, when she defeated clay-courter Judith Wiesner in the final. Sawamatsu had much success at Strasbourg reaching the semifinals in 1991, final in 1992 losing to Judith Wiesner.

She retired from professional tennis after losing in the second round of the 1998 Japan Open to Monica Seles in a three-set match. Sawamatsu had wins over the following players during her career: Martina Hingis, Lindsay Davenport, Kimiko Date, Mary Joe Fernandez, Amanda Coetzer, and Conchita Martínez. She was the first player to be beaten by Venus Williams in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament, at the French Open in 1997.[1]

Sawamatsu's has a career win–loss record in singles of 205–143.

Since retirement, she has been involved in the development of sport in her native country. Sawamatsu is the daughter of tennis player Junko Sawamatsu and the niece of 1975 Wimbledon ladies doubles champion Kazuko Sawamatsu.

Sawamatsu appeared in the 2018 TBS medical drama Black Pean as Yoshie Koyama, the wife of a patient.[2]

WTA career finals

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Singles: 7 (4 titles, 3 runner-ups)

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Legend
Tier I 0
Tier II 0
Tier III 2
Tier IV & V 2
Result W/L Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Win 1–0 Apr 1990 Singapore Hard   Sarah Loosemore 7–6(7–5), 3–6, 6–4
Loss 1–1 Apr 1991 Pattaya, Thailand Hard   Yayuk Basuki 2–6, 2–6
Loss 1–2 May 1992 Strasbourg, France Clay   Judith Wiesner 1–6, 3–6
Loss 1–3 Jan 1993 Melbourne, Australia Hard   Amanda Coetzer 2–6, 3–6
Win 2–3 May 1993 Strasbourg, France Clay   Judith Wiesner 4–6, 6–1, 6–3
Win 3–3 Apr 1994 Singapore Hard   Florencia Labat 7–5, 7–5
Win 4–3 Apr 1997 Jakarta, Indonesia Hard   Yuka Yoshida 6–3, 6–2

ITF Circuit finals

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$50,000 tournaments
$25,000 tournaments
$10,000 tournaments

Singles: 2 (2–0)

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Result No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Win 1. 15 October 1989 ITF Nagasaki, Japan Hard   Akiko Gooden 6–4, 6–0
Win 2. 25 March 1990 ITF Moulins, France Carpet (i)   Claudia Chabalgoity 6–3, 6-1

Doubles: 1 (0–1)

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Result No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 1. 7 November 1993 ITF Saga, Japan Grass   Mana Endo   Ei Iida
  Maya Kidowaki
2–6, 6–3, 2-6

Performance timeline

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Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# DNQ A NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
Tournament 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 W–L
Australian Open A 3R A 3R 2R QF 4R 1R 1R 12–7
French Open 2R 4R 1R 2R 2R 3R 2R 1R 2R 10–9
Wimbledon 1R 2R 4R 3R 4R 3R 3R 2R 3R 16–9
US Open 2R 2R 3R 1R 1R 3R 2R 2R 2R 9–9
Win–loss 2–3 7–4 5–3 5–4 5–4 10–4 7–4 2–4 4–4 47–34
WTA Tier I tournaments SR
Rome - - - 3R QF 2R - 1R 2R 0 / 5
Berlin - 2R 2R - - 2R 3R - 1R 0 / 5
Charleston - - - - - - - - 2R 0 / 1
Philadelphia Not Tier I - - - Not Tier I 0 / 0
Boca Raton - - 3R Not Tier I Not held 0 / 1
Tokyo Not Tier I - - QF QF 2R 2R 0 / 4
Moscow Not Tier I or Was Not Held - - 0 / 0
Miami - 3R 3R 2R 4R 4R 2R 2R 3R 0 / 8
Montreal/Toronto QF 3R 3R 3R 3R - - 3R 1R 0 / 7
Zurich Not Tier I - - - 1R 1R 1R - 0 / 3
Indian Wells - - - - - SF 2R 2R 2R 0 / 4
Chicago - - - - - - - - NH 0 / 0
Career statistics
Tournaments won 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0
Year-end ranking 31 33 24 28 26 17 38 34 55

References

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  1. ^ "Venus, and Beads, Are Hit in French Open Debut". latimes.com. 27 May 1997. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  2. ^ "Black Pean cast". TBS Black Pean official site (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 26 May 2024. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
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