Maki Arai | Today's AI Wiki

1. Overview

Maki Arai (新井麻葵_{Arai Maki}^Japanese), born on December 23, 1982, is a former professional Japanese tennis player. Known for her height, which was a significant asset in her game, Arai competed extensively on the ITF Circuit from 2000 until her retirement in 2010. During her career, she achieved a career-high singles ranking of No. 425 in June 2004 and a career-high doubles ranking of No. 185 in September 2005. She amassed 27 doubles titles on the ITF Circuit and demonstrated notable performance at national level tournaments, including reaching the singles semifinals and doubles final at the 2004 All Japan Tennis Championships.

2. Early Life and Background

Maki Arai's foundational experiences in her youth paved the way for her professional tennis career.

2.1. Childhood and Education

Born on December 23, 1982, in Tachikawa, Tokyo, Japan, Maki Arai began playing tennis at the age of six. Her early education included attending Fujimura Girls' Junior and Senior High School, where she cultivated her skills before transitioning to professional tennis. Standing at 70 in ^{(179 cm)} tall and weighing 148 lb ^{(67 kg)}, Arai's significant height was a natural advantage that she leveraged in her playing style throughout her career.

3. Professional Tennis Career

Maki Arai's professional career spanned a decade, during which she established herself primarily as a doubles specialist on the ITF circuit.

Arai officially turned professional in February 2001, although her professional debut year is listed as 2000. She was a right-handed player who utilized a two-handed backhand, a common technique among modern tennis players. Her career saw her travel extensively, competing in numerous tournaments both domestically within Japan and internationally.

3.1. Career Statistics

Throughout her professional career, Maki Arai maintained a consistent presence on the ITF Circuit, especially distinguishing herself in doubles.

Arai's professional career statistics are as follows:

Singles Record:** 124 wins and 174 losses
Doubles Record:** 249 wins and 125 losses
Total Career Record:** 373 wins and 299 losses
Career-High Singles Ranking:** No. 425, achieved on June 14, 2004
Career-High Doubles Ranking:** No. 185, achieved on September 12, 2005
Singles Titles:** 0
Doubles Titles:** 27 ITF titles
Career Prize Money:** 63.37 K USD

4. Major Tournament Results

Maki Arai's career highlights include numerous finals appearances on the ITF Circuit and strong performances at national championships.

4.1. ITF Circuit Finals

Maki Arai competed in a total of 50 ITF Circuit finals, with three appearances in singles finals and 47 in doubles finals.

4.1.1. Singles Finals

Arai reached three singles finals on the ITF Circuit, but was unable to secure a title.

Result	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1.	6 May 2001	ITF Hatfield, United Kingdom	Clay	Marion Bartoli	0-6, 2-6
Loss	2.	26 October 2003	ITF Tokyo, Japan	Hard	Ryōko Fuda	7-5, 3-6, 2-6
Loss	3.	22 June 2008	ITF Sutama, Japan	Clay	Miki Miyamura	3-6, 3-6

4.1.2. Doubles Finals

Arai had significant success in doubles on the ITF Circuit, winning 27 titles from 47 final appearances.

Result	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	1.	26 September 1999	ITF Tokyo, Japan	Hard	Kumiko Iijima	Li Na Li Ting	2-6, 1-6
Win	2.	21 November 1999	ITF Haibara, Japan	Carpet	Kumiko Iijima	Choi Young-ja Kim Eun-sook	6-2, 6-0
Loss	3.	28 November 1999	ITF Kofu, Japan	Carpet	Remi Tezuka	Seiko Okamoto Keiko Taguchi	6-7, 6-0, 5-7
Loss	4.	20 November 2000	Kofu Open, Japan	Carpet	Kumiko Iijima	Seiko Okamoto Keiko Taguchi	5-3, 1-4, 4-5, 1-4
Win	5.	29 April 2001	ITF Bournemouth, England	Clay	Julia Smith	Daniela Klemenschits Sandra Klemenschits	6-7⁽⁴⁾, 6-3, 6-3
Win	6.	24 June 2001	ITF Montréal, Canada	Hard	Kaori Aoyama	Ayano Takeuchi Tomoko Yonemura	6-1, 6-3
Win	7.	8 July 2001	ITF Kaohsiung, Taiwan	Hard	Kumiko Iijima	Khoo Chin-bee Weng Tzu-ting	w/o
Win	8.	10 February 2002	ITF Faro, Portugal	Hard	Remi Tezuka	Satomi Kinjo Seiko Okamoto	7-5, 6-7⁽⁵⁾, 6-2
Win	9.	17 February 2002	ITF Vilamoura, Portugal	Hard	Remi Tezuka	Liana Ungur Marta Fraga	6-2, 7-5
Win	10.	21 July 2002	ITF Seoul, South Korea	Hard	Seiko Okamoto	Chae Kyung-yee Chang Kyung-mi	6-3, 5-7, 6-4
Win	11.	1 September 2002	ITF Ibaraki, Japan	Hard	Kaori Aoyama	Yumiko Kitamura Keiko Taguchi	4-6, 6-1, 6-2
Loss	12.	15 September 2002	ITF Kyoto, Japan	Hard (i)	Kaori Aoyama	Shiho Hisamatsu Maiko Inoue	5-7, 5-7
Loss	13.	23 February 2003	ITF Bangalore, India	Hard	Natallia Dziamidzenka	Rushmi Chakravarthi Sai Jayalakshmy Jayaram	6-7⁽⁵⁾, 6-7⁽⁴⁾
Loss	14.	20 April 2003	ITF Yamaguchi, Japan	Clay	Ryoko Fuda	Akiko Kinebuchi Tomoko Taira	6-3, 6-7⁽⁷⁾, 4-6
Loss	15.	18 May 2003	ITF Nagano, Japan	Grass	Aiko Nakamura	Tomoko Taira Tomoko Yonemura	3-6, 1-6
Loss	16.	25 May 2003	ITF Gunma, Japan	Grass	Aiko Nakamura	Kumiko Iijima Suchanun Viratprasert	6-4, 5-7, 4-6
Win	17.	21 June 2003	ITF Incheon, South Korea	Hard	Wang I-ting	Kim Ye-on Lee Joo-hee	6-1, 1-6, 6-2
Win	18.	26 October 2003	ITF Tokyo, Japan	Hard	Ryoko Fuda	Shizu Katsumi Kim Hea-mi	6-2, 6-3
Loss	19.	3 July 2004	ITF Incheon, South Korea	Hard	Remi Tezuka	Lee Jin-a Yoo Soo-mi	2-6, 6-4, 4-6
Win	20.	7 September 2004	ITF Ibaraki, Japan	Hard	Remi Tezuka	Rika Fujiwara Shiho Hisamatsu	6-1, 5-7, 6-2
Loss	21.	19 September 2004	ITF Kyoto, Japan	Carpet	Satomi Kinjo	Natasha Kersten Eriko Mizuno	4-6, 6-4, 4-6
Loss	22.	31 October 2004	ITF Tokyo, Japan	Hard	Akiko Yonemura	Kumiko Iijima Junri Namigata	3-6, 1-6
Win	23.	5 February 2005	ITF Wellington, New Zealand	Hard	Chang Kyung-mi	Beti Sekulovski Aleksandra Srndovic	3-6, 6-4, 6-4
Win	24.	13 February 2005	ITF Blenheim, New Zealand	Hard	Chang Kyung-mi	Beti Sekulovski Aleksandra Srndovic	6-4, 7-6
Win	25.	13 February 2005	ITF Yamaguchi, Japan	Clay	Kumiko Iijima	Lisa D'Amelio Christina Horiatopoulos	6-3, 7-6
Loss	26.	11 June 2005	ITF Seoul, South Korea	Hard	Lee Eun-jeong	Chan Chin-wei Hsieh Su-wei	2-6, 1-6
Win	27.	11 September 2005	ITF Beijing, China	Hard	Kim So-jung	Chan Yung-jan Hwang I-hsuan	6-4, 6-0
Win	28.	30 October 2005	ITF Tokyo, Japan	Hard	Kim Hea-mi	Lauren Breadmore Annette Kolb	6-4, 7-6
Win	29.	6 November 2005	ITF Sutama, Japan	Clay	Kumiko Iijima	Tomoko Dokei Yukiko Yabe	6-1, 6-2
Win	30.	16 July 2006	ITF Miyazaki, Japan	Carpet	Kumiko Iijima	Seiko Okamoto Ayami Takase	6-2, 6-3
Loss	31.	10 September 2006	ITF Kyoto, Japan	Carpet	Yukiko Yabe	Natsumi Hamamura Ayaka Maekawa	4-6, 2-6
Loss	32.	17 September 2006	ITF Hiroshima, Japan	Carpet	Montinee Tangphong	Yuka Kuroda Eriko Mizuno	1-6, 4-6
Loss	33.	28 October 2006	ITF Hamanako, Japan	Carpet	Seiko Okamoto	Chuang Chia-jung Hsieh Su-wei	6-7⁽²⁾, 5-7
Win	34.	5 November 2006	ITF Sutama, Japan	Clay	Seiko Okamoto	Ryoko Takemura Mari Tanaka	6-2, 6-3
Win	35.	4 November 2007	ITF Kofu, Japan	Hard	Chang Kyung-mi	Ayaka Maekawa Varatchaya Wongteanchai	5-7, 6-2, [10-7]
Win	36.	8 March 2008	ITF Hamilton, New Zealand	Hard	Yurina Koshino	Alison Bai Emelyn Starr	7-6⁽³⁾, 7-6⁽²⁾
Loss	37.	6 September 2008	ITF Tsukuba, Japan	Hard	Yurika Sema	Chan Chin-wei Hwang I-hsuan	0-6, 4-6
Loss	38.	20 September 2008	ITF Kyoto, Japan	Carpet	Yurina Koshino	Ayumi Oka Varatchaya Wongteanchai	7-5, 2-6, [2-10]
Loss	39.	27 March 2009	ITF Kofu, Japan	Hard	Miki Miyamura	Shuko Aoyama Akari Inoue	5-7, 6-3, [8-10]
Win	40.	1 May 2009	ITF Bundaberg, Australia	Clay	Nicole Riner	Isabella Holland Sally Peers	1-6, 6-4, 11-9
Win	41.	1 May 2009	ITF Ipswich, Australia	Clay	Olivia Rogowska	Tyra Calderwood Shannon Golds	6-3, 6-2
Loss	42.	14 June 2009	ITF Tokyo, Japan	Hard	Yurina Koshino	Ayumi Oka Mari Tanaka	6-7⁽⁶⁾, 0-6
Win	43.	11 July 2009	ITF Tokyo, Japan	Carpet	Mari Tanaka	Kazusa Ito Tomoko Taira	7-5, 3-6, [13-11]
Loss	44.	8 August 2009	ITF Niigata, Japan	Carpet	Etsuko Kitazaki	Airi Hagimoto Maiko Inoue	2-6, 2-6
Win	45.	29 August 2009	ITF Saitama, Japan	Hard	Mari Tanaka	Airi Hagimoto Maiko Inoue	6-2, 6-4
Win	46.	26 March 2010	ITF Kofu, Japan	Hard	Seiko Okamoto	Shiho Hisamatsu Maiko Inoue	6-4, 6-4
Win	47.	11 July 2010	ITF Tokyo, Japan	Carpet	Maiko Inoue	Airi Hagimoto Kaori Onishi	6-2, 7-5

4.2. Other Tournament Results

Beyond the ITF Circuit, Maki Arai also made a significant mark in national competitions. In 2004, a notable year for her singles ranking, she reached the semifinals in the singles event and was a runner-up in the doubles event at the prestigious All Japan Tennis Championships.

5. Retirement

Maki Arai concluded her professional tennis career in 2010. After a decade on the professional circuit, she chose to step away from competitive play. The exact reasons for her retirement are not detailed in available sources, but her final competitive match on the ITF Circuit was a doubles win in Tokyo in July 2010.

6. Assessment and Legacy

Maki Arai's professional tennis career, spanning from 2000 to 2010, saw her become a formidable presence, particularly in doubles play on the ITF Circuit. Her 27 doubles titles underscore her proficiency and consistent performance in that discipline. Arai's notable height of 70 in ^{(179 cm)} was frequently cited as a key advantage in her game, allowing her to generate power and coverage on the court. Her achievements, including reaching the singles semifinals and doubles final at the 2004 All Japan Tennis Championships, demonstrate her capability to compete at a high level both internationally and within her home country. Her decade-long career contributed to the competitive landscape of Japanese tennis during her active years.