Ai Sugiyama

3.1. 1990s

Sugiyama made her professional debut in October 1992. In 1993, at the age of 17, she faced tennis legend Martina Navratilova in her hometown, losing in three sets. That same year, she made her Grand Slam debut at Wimbledon, where she lost in the first round to world No. 30, Gigi Fernández. In 1994, she again reached the main draw at Wimbledon but was defeated by her compatriot, world No. 6 Kimiko Date. Later in 1994, Sugiyama reached her first singles final in Surabaya, though she was forced to retire against Elena Wagner. She went on to win the doubles title at the Japan Open, marking her first tour title. By the end of 1994, she broke into the WTA top 100.

The year 1995 saw Sugiyama win her first Grand Slam match and advance to the fourth round of the Roland Garros. In the first round, she notably defeated 15th-seeded Grand Slam runner-up and former top-5 player Helena Suková in a final set score of 9-7, marking her first victory over a top-20 player. Two months later, she defeated Amanda Coetzer to reach the third round of another tournament, where she lost to world No. 4 and former Wimbledon champion, Conchita Martínez. In November, she had an impressive run at the Oakland Tier-II tournament. Despite being ranked 63rd, she defeated 22nd-ranked Irina Spîrlea, former Wimbledon runner-up Zina Garrison Jackson, and No. 10 Lindsay Davenport to reach her second career final, ultimately losing to No. 7 Magdalena Maleeva. Following this performance, Sugiyama broke into the top 50.

In 1996, she reached the third round at the Australian Open. In Miami, seeded 23rd, Sugiyama advanced to the fourth round, defeating No. 10 Jana Novotná, which was her second top-10 victory. This achievement moved her into the top 30. She also reached the semifinals of the Japan Open in Tokyo and the fourth round at Wimbledon, where she defeated No. 5 Anke Huber, marking her third top-10 and first top-5 victory. Representing Japan at the Atlanta Olympics, she reached the third round after defeating Martina Hingis.

Sugiyama began the 1997 season by reaching her third final, losing to Elena Likhovtseva after defeating Sabine Appelmans in the quarterfinals. The following week, she reached the second round at the Australian Open. In April, she won her first professional singles title at the Japan Open against Amy Frazier. However, her Grand Slam results were modest that year, with second-round exits at the French Open and US Open, and a first-round loss at Wimbledon. At the end of the year, she reached her first Tier-I final at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, defeating notable players such as Natasha Zvereva, No. 14 Brenda Schultz-McCarthy, No. 9 and multiple Grand Slam winner Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, and Dominique Van Roost, before falling in the final to top seed and world No. 2 Jana Novotná.

In 1998, she started the year by winning her second singles title in Gold Coast. She then broke into the top 20 and reached another semifinal in Sydney, defeating Conchita Martínez. Throughout that year, Sugiyama demonstrated consistent performance, securing her third WTA Tour title at the Japan Open. She reached quarterfinals in Tokyo (Pan Pacific), Berlin (defeating No. 4 Amanda Coetzer), Strasbourg, and San Diego (defeating Steffi Graf). She also reached the third round in Indian Wells, Miami, and Montreal, and the second round at both the French Open and US Open. In 1999, she reached the final of the Japan Open, the semifinals in Gold Coast and Tokyo (Princess Cup, defeating No. 8 Julie Halard-Decugis), and the quarterfinals in Strasbourg and Moscow (defeating No. 6 Mary Pierce). She also reached the third round in Indian Wells, Montreal (defeating No. 7 Jana Novotná), and at the US Open, while reaching the second round at the French Open and Wimbledon. In 1999, Sugiyama won her first Grand Slam title, the US Open mixed doubles, partnering with Mahesh Bhupathi. For her exemplary conduct, Sugiyama received the WTA Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award in 1999.

3.2. 2000-2005

The turn of the millennium marked a period of significant success for Ai Sugiyama, particularly in doubles. On July 10, 2000, she reached the women's doubles final at Wimbledon, partnered by Julie Halard-Decugis, but they lost to the Williams sisters. On September 10, 2000, she won the women's doubles title at the US Open, defeating Cara Black and Elena Likhovtseva in three sets. On October 23, 2000, Sugiyama made history by becoming the first Japanese woman to rank world No. 1 in doubles, having won seven doubles titles that year.

Her greatest individual success came at Scottsdale in 2003. After defeating Lindsay Davenport in the second round, she advanced to the semifinals by beating Eleni Daniilidou. Due to scheduling issues, both the singles and doubles semifinals and finals were played on the same Sunday. In a remarkable display of endurance, Sugiyama saved a match point in her singles semifinal against Alexandra Stevenson, then rallied from a set down to defeat her doubles partner Kim Clijsters in the singles final. Subsequently, she secured victories in both doubles matches to lift both trophies on the same day. The year 2003 proved to be her best season, as she pushed Serena Williams to the limit at Roland Garros and reached the round of 16 at both Wimbledon and the US Open. She concluded the year ranked tenth in singles, having defeated world No. 1 Justine Henin in the round robin section of the season-ending championships. In doubles, she won a total of eight titles in 2003: seven with Kim Clijsters (Sydney, Antwerp, Scottsdale, Roland Garros, Wimbledon, San Diego, Zurich) and one with Liezel Huber (Linz).

Sugiyama's 2005 season began with four consecutive first-round losses in singles, including at the first three Grand Slams. Her best singles performance came at San Diego, where she reached the final, losing to Mary Pierce, after defeating Daniela Hantuchová, Sesil Karatantcheva, and Svetlana Kuznetsova. In doubles, she also reached the final in San Diego with Hantuchová, losing to Virginia Ruano-Pascual and Conchita Martínez. She broke her Grand Slam "curse" at the US Open, reaching the third round before losing to Kim Clijsters, who went on to win the title.

In 2005, Sugiyama's doubles results were generally stronger than her singles. Partnering with Elena Dementieva, she reached the final of her first tournament in Sydney, losing to Bryanne Stewart and Samantha Stosur. They reached the round of 16 at the Australian Open. She also played with Anastasia Myskina and Elena Likhovtseva in a few tournaments, though with less success. In Berlin, she reunited with Daniela Hantuchová, reaching the semifinals. They won their next tournament in Birmingham, defeating Daniilidou and Russell. At Wimbledon, Hantuchová and Sugiyama reached the quarterfinal, losing to eventual champions Black and Huber. At the Canadian Open in Toronto, they lost in the semifinals to eventual champions Anna-Lena Grönefeld and Martina Navratilova. At the US Open, they reached the third round, losing to Yan Zi and Zheng Jie. After trying three different partners, she reunited with Hantuchová in Zurich, where they reached the finals (beating top seeds Lisa Raymond and Stosur en route), losing a close three-set match to Black and Rennae Stubbs. They finished the year ranked No. 5, narrowly missing qualification for the year-end championships.

Sugiyama played mixed doubles at the French Open and the US Open in 2005. At Roland Garros, partnered with Max Mirnyi, she lost in the first round. At the US Open, she partnered with Kevin Ullyett, reaching the quarterfinals before losing to eventual champions Hantuchová and Bhupathi. Entering the Doha tournament with an 0-5 singles record, she managed to defeat wildcard Selima Sfar. In the second round, she upset Anastasia Myskina in three sets. She had a comfortable win in her quarterfinal match against Julia Schruff, but lost in the semifinal in an epic match against Nadia Petrova. Despite being down 0-4 in the second set, she won five consecutive games to take a 5-4 lead. She won the doubles title in Doha with Hantuchová, defeating Yan and Zheng in the semifinal and Li Ting and Sun Tiantian in the final.

3.3. 2006-2009

The later stages of Ai Sugiyama's career saw her continue to achieve success, particularly in doubles, and maintain her remarkable consistency in Grand Slam appearances.

In May 2006, in Rome, Sugiyama and Daniela Hantuchová won their third and biggest title as a team, defeating Li and Sun, Black and Stubbs (seeded No. 2), and Květa Peschke and Francesca Schiavone (seeded No. 8). At the French Open, 22nd-seeded Sugiyama defeated Daniilidou in the first round but lost to French qualifier Aravane Rezaï in the second. In doubles, partnered with Hantuchová, they reached the final, defeating second-seeded Black and Stubbs in the quarterfinals and fourth-seeded Yan and Zheng in the semifinals, before losing in two sets to top-seeded Raymond and Stosur. Wimbledon 2006 saw Sugiyama, the 18th seed, defeat 12th seed Martina Hingis in three sets to advance to the fourth round. The summer brought several disappointing singles losses, as well as doubles upsets. Sugiyama reached the doubles final in Los Angeles with Hantuchová, losing to Ruano Pascual and Paola Suárez. In Montreal, she defeated Aleksandra Wozniak and Anabel Medina Garrigues before losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova. In doubles, partnering with Nathalie Dechy, they reached the quarterfinals. At the US Open, seeded 28th, she defeated Zuzana Ondrášková and Tathiana Garbin before falling to second seed Justine Henin. In Beijing, she upset fourth-seeded Nicole Vaidišová in three sets before losing to Peng Shuai. She reached the final of a Tier-IV event in Seoul, losing to Eleni Daniilidou in a three-set final.

The beginning of 2007 showed improved form for Sugiyama. She lost to Anastasiya Yakimova in the second round of the Australian Open (10-8 in the third set), but later defeated her in Miami. Sugiyama and Daniela Hantuchová reached the quarterfinals in Miami, losing to eventual champions Black and Huber. In Tokyo, she reached the quarterfinals, losing in three sets to world No. 1 Maria Sharapova. In Doha, she sustained a toe injury but recovered to reach the round of 16 at Indian Wells. In Miami, she fell to Dinara Safina in the third round. She went 0-3 in Fed Cup play against France, losing to both Tatiana Golovin and Dechy, but rebounded to win the 50.00 K USD Gifu tournament with Ayumi Morita, dropping only one set en route to the title. She played in Berlin with Katarina Srebotnik, winning their first match with a double bagel before losing to second-seeded Black and Huber.

Her next tournament was Rome, where she defeated Maria Kirilenko in a 2-hour, 49-minute three-set match, but lost to Shahar Pe'er in the next round. At Roland Garros, she reached the third round in singles. In doubles, seeded seventh with Srebotnik, they reached the French Open finals, upsetting top seeds and defending champions Raymond and Stosur in the semifinals, but lost in straight sets to Alicia Molik and Mara Santangelo. At Wimbledon, seeded 26th, she reached the third round in singles, losing to second-seeded Sharapova. In doubles, she and Srebotnik reached the final, coming back from 1-6, 0-3 to beat top-seeded Raymond and Stosur, but lost to second-seeded Black and Huber. During the US Open Series, she reached the third round of San Diego, where she defeated Sybille Bammer, but then lost to Anna Chakvetadze. She reached two doubles semifinals in San Diego and Stanford with Srebotnik, losing both times to Victoria Azarenka and Chakvetadze. However, they won the Toronto title, defeating Black and Huber in the final, marking their first title as a team. At the US Open, Sugiyama lost in the second round in singles and reached the quarterfinals in doubles with Srebotnik, losing to eventual champions Dechy and Safina. Srebotnik and Sugiyama's strong form led them to qualify for the Tour Championships in Madrid, where they were seeded second, defeated the Taiwanese duo of Chan Yung-jan and Chuang Chia-jung, but lost to Black and Huber in the final in a super tiebreak.

In 2008, Sugiyama's singles season started slowly, but her form returned at the Australian Open, where she beat Vera Zvonareva and Tatiana Perebiynis before losing to 12th seed Vaidišová in the third round. In doubles, she and Srebotnik lost to the Williams sisters in the second round of the Australian Open, ending Sugiyama's dream of a career Grand Slam. She reached the doubles final in Antwerp with Peschke and the semifinals in Doha and Dubai with Srebotnik. On March 30, at the Tier-I event in Miami, she upset eighth-seeded Hantuchová in an epic three-set match, marking her first top-ten win since Beijing 2006. In doubles, she and Srebotnik won the Miami title, defeating top teams like Black and Huber. This was their second team title and Sugiyama's eighth Tier-I title. Sugiyama won her ninth Tier I doubles title with Srebotnik at Charleston, their third team title. At the 2008 Wimbledon tournament, Sugiyama broke the record for consecutive Grand Slam appearances for women, with 57 consecutive appearances. She made it to the third round of ladies' singles, losing to Alisa Kleybanova. At Stanford, she reached the quarterfinals in singles, defeating Alexa Glatch, world No. 11 Hantuchová, and saving three match points against Dominika Cibulková. Sugiyama and Ayumi Morita represented Japan at the Summer Olympics in Beijing, losing in the second round of doubles to the Williams sisters.

In 2009, Ai started the year with a first-round singles loss to Samantha Stosur at the Brisbane International, and a semifinal finish in women's doubles with Daniela Hantuchová. At the Sydney International, Sugiyama reached the semifinals in singles, eventually losing to Dinara Safina. In the 2009 Australian Open, she reached the third round in singles, losing to Jelena Janković. As the ninth seed in doubles with Hantuchová, they defeated the No. 1 seeds, Black and Huber, in a dramatic three-set match where they saved seven match points in the tie-break. In the semifinals, they beat Dechy and Santangelo to reach her first Australian Open women's doubles final, where they were defeated by the Williams sisters in two sets. A respiratory infection forced her to withdraw from the 2009 Open GDF Suez. Sugiyama lost in the opening round of the Dubai Tennis Championships to Marion Bartoli in a tight three-set match, and she and Hantuchová withdrew from doubles due to the infection.

At the Indian Wells Open, Sugiyama and Hantuchová were seeded fifth in women's doubles but lost in the first round. In singles, she lost to qualifier Angela Haynes in the second round. At the Sony Ericsson Open, she lost her opening matches in both singles and doubles, which dropped her doubles ranking to No. 5. Sugiyama experienced a streak of four consecutive singles losses in Miami, Stuttgart, Rome, and Madrid. However, alongside Hantuchová, Sugiyama reached the finals at the Rome Masters, where they lost to the No. 7 seeds, Hsieh Su-wei and Peng. They reached the quarterfinals at the Madrid Masters. She won her 38th doubles title at Eastbourne, partnering with Akgul Amanmuradova, defeating Samantha Stosur and Rennae Stubbs in the final. On June 22, she extended her record of consecutive Grand Slam appearances to 61 at Wimbledon, defeating seeded Patty Schnyder in straight sets to break an eleven-match losing streak. She lost in the third round to Hantuchová. In Stanford, she lost to Maria Sharapova in three sets, saving two match points in the second set. She then lost in the second round in Los Angeles to Agnieszka Radwańska. Ai Sugiyama retired at the end of the 2009 tennis season after the Pan Pacific Open, held in her native Japan. A special ceremony was held for her at center court before the tournament.

4.1. Singles

Sugiyama made 62 consecutive Grand Slam main-draw appearances, a record for both male and female players until 2015.
Her best singles results at the Grand Slams include:

• Australian Open:** Quarterfinals (2000)
• French Open:** Fourth Round (1995, 2000, 2003)
• Wimbledon:** Quarterfinals (2004)
• US Open:** Fourth Round (2003, 2004)

Her overall singles win-loss record at Grand Slams is 84-63.

4.2. Women's Doubles

Ai Sugiyama achieved significant success in women's doubles at the Grand Slams, winning three titles and reaching seven other finals.

4.3. Mixed Doubles

Sugiyama won one Grand Slam mixed doubles title and reached multiple semifinals.

She also reached the semifinals of the French Open in 2000, Wimbledon in 2004, and the US Open in 2001.

5.1. Singles Finals

Sugiyama reached 13 singles finals on the WTA Tour, winning 6 titles and finishing as runner-up 7 times.

5.2. Doubles Finals

Ai Sugiyama competed in 71 WTA Tour doubles finals, winning 38 titles and finishing as runner-up 33 times.

5.3. Year-End Championships

Sugiyama participated in the WTA Tour Year-End Championships (WTA Finals) multiple times in doubles, reaching the final twice.

• 2003:** Finalist with Kim Clijsters, losing to Virginia Ruano Pascual and Paola Suárez (4-6, 6-3, 3-6).
• 2007:** Finalist with Katarina Srebotnik, losing to Cara Black and Liezel Huber (7-5, 3-6, [8-10]).

She also competed in singles at the 2003 WTA Tour Championships, reaching the round robin stage where she famously defeated world No. 1 Justine Henin.

5.4. Olympic Games

Ai Sugiyama represented Japan in multiple Olympic Games.

• 1996 Atlanta Olympics:** Reached the third round in singles.
• 2004 Athens Olympics:** Reached the quarterfinals in singles. In women's doubles, partnered with Shinobu Asagoe, she reached the semifinals but finished in fourth place after losing the bronze medal match to Paola Suárez and Patricia Tarabini (3-6, 3-6).
• 2008 Beijing Olympics:** Partnered with Ayumi Morita in women's doubles, they lost in the second round to the Williams sisters.

6.1. Singles

Sugiyama won one singles title and was a runner-up twice on the ITF Circuit.

6.2. Doubles

Sugiyama won four doubles titles and was a runner-up once on the ITF Circuit.

8.1. Prize Money

Sugiyama's total career prize money from tennis tournaments amounted to 8.13 M USD. Her earnings varied year by year, with her most lucrative season being 2003, when she earned over 1.20 M USD.

8.2. Rankings

Sugiyama maintained a strong presence in the top rankings for both singles and doubles throughout her career.