Makoto Ninomiya

1.1. Childhood and Education

Makoto Ninomiya was born on May 28, 1994, in Hiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. Her mother worked as a nursery school teacher. Ninomiya began her tennis journey at a very young age, at three years old, by playing with sponge balls alongside her mother, who was attending the NB Tennis Garden in Hiroshima. By the age of six, she formally joined the kids' tennis school at the same facility.

During her elementary school years, Ninomiya was actively involved in various sports besides tennis, including dance, swimming, and skiing. It was around the age of ten that she decided to focus solely on tennis. Interestingly, also at ten, she started playing soccer with the specific aim of improving her tennis footwork.

She attended Hiroshima Municipal Suzuhari Elementary School and Hiroshima Municipal Seiwa Junior High School. In 2006, while in her sixth year of elementary school, she was selected to be part of the joint junior training camp for the Chūgoku and Shikoku regions. During her third year of junior high school in 2009, Ninomiya reached the semifinals of the National Junior High School Tennis Championship in girls' singles, where she was defeated by Nao Hibino. She did not secure any titles at the junior high school level. Upon graduating from junior high, Ninomiya considered dedicating herself entirely to tennis without attending high school. However, following advice from her coach, she decided to enroll in Nishinomiya Koei High School, a correspondence school in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, where she was classmates with fellow tennis player Risa Ozaki.

1.2. Junior Activities

In 2010, during her first year of high school, Ninomiya emerged as the champion in the girls' singles event at the Toyota Junior Tennis Tournament (now known as the MUFG Junior Tennis Tournament). On her path to victory, she notably defeated players such as Miyu Kato and Eri Hozumi before clinching the final against Moho Kowase with a dominant straight-sets win. Her junior career also saw her reach the semifinals of the girls' doubles event at the 2011 French Open Junior Championships, partnering with Risa Ozaki. These early successes underscored her potential as she transitioned into professional tennis.

2.1. Career Progression

Her breakthrough on the WTA Tour came in September 2016 when she secured her first WTA title at the Japan Women's Open, partnering with Shuko Aoyama. They defeated the British pair of Jocelyn Rae and Anna Smith. In March 2017, she reached another WTA final at the Malaysian Open with Nicole Melichar but finished as runner-up to Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua.

In 2017, Ninomiya achieved a significant milestone by reaching the semifinals of the Wimbledon Championships with Czech partner Renata Voráčová. Despite their strong performance, they were defeated by Chan Hao-ching and Monica Niculescu. This performance propelled her to a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 38, marking her entry into the top 50.

The pinnacle of her career thus far arrived in June 2018 at the French Open, where she partnered with fellow Japanese player Eri Hozumi. Their run to the final marked a historic achievement as the first all-Japanese female pair to reach a Grand Slam final in the Open Era. Although they were defeated by the Czech duo of Barbora Krejčíková and Kateřina Siniaková, their performance was lauded as the best by an all-Japanese pair in a Grand Slam. Following this, in September 2018, Ninomiya reached the final of the Japan Women's Open once again, this time with Miyu Kato, but they lost to Eri Hozumi and Zhang Shuai. Just a week later, Ninomiya and Kato returned to a final at the Toray Pan Pacific Open, where they claimed their second WTA title by defeating Andrea Sestini Hlaváčková and Barbora Strýcová.

She continued to achieve success on the WTA Tour, winning the Nottingham Open in June 2021 with Lyudmyla Kichenok. In 2022, she had a particularly strong year, winning three WTA 250 doubles titles: the Adelaide International 2 in January, the Rabat Grand Prix in May, and the Bad Homburg Open in June, all partnered with Eri Hozumi.

More recently, in October 2023, Ninomiya and Hozumi were runners-up at the Jiangxi Open, losing to Laura Siegemund and Vera Zvonareva. In 2024, she was a runner-up at the Hong Kong 125 Open with Nao Hibino, before winning her seventh WTA title at the Hong Kong Open alongside Ulrikke Eikeri, defeating the Japanese pair of Shuko Aoyama and Eri Hozumi in a champions tiebreak.

2.2. Grand Slam Performance

Makoto Ninomiya's most significant Grand Slam achievement is reaching the final of the 2018 French Open in women's doubles. Below are her best results across the four major tournaments in women's and mixed doubles.

• Australian Open:
  • Women's Doubles: Second Round (2020, 2022, 2023, 2024)
  • Mixed Doubles: Quarterfinals (2022)
• French Open:
  • Women's Doubles: Finalist (2018)
  • Mixed Doubles: First Round (2018, 2019)
• Wimbledon:
  • Women's Doubles: Semifinals (2017)
  • Mixed Doubles: Second Round (2017, 2019)
• US Open:
  • Women's Doubles: Second Round (2024)
  • Mixed Doubles: First Round (2018)

  Her sole Grand Slam final appearance came at the 2018 French Open in women's doubles:
  

  Result	Year	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
  Loss	2018	French Open	Clay	Eri Hozumi	Barbora Krejčíková / Kateřina Siniaková	3-6, 3-6

2.3. WTA Tour Finals

Ninomiya has reached 17 doubles finals on the WTA Tour, winning 7 titles and finishing as runner-up 10 times.

2.4. WTA Challenger Tour Finals

Ninomiya has won one doubles title on the WTA Challenger Tour.

2.5. ITF Circuit Finals

Makoto Ninomiya has competed in numerous ITF Circuit finals, achieving success in both singles and doubles.