Naoko Sawamatsu Explained

Naoko Sawamatsu
沢松奈生子
Residence:Nishinomiya, Japan
Birth Date:1973 3, df=yes
Birth Place:Nishinomiya, Japan
Plays:Right-handed
Careerprizemoney:$1,107,264
Singlesrecord:205–43
Singlestitles:4 WTA, 2 ITF
Highestsinglesranking:No. 14 (6 February 1995)
Australianopenresult:QF (1995)
Frenchopenresult:4R (1991)
Wimbledonresult:4R (1992, 1994)
Usopenresult:3R (1992, 1995)
Othertournaments:yes
Olympicsresult:2R (1996)
Doublesrecord:16–34
Doublestitles:0
Highestdoublesranking:No. 98 (30 January 1995)
Australianopendoublesresult:3R (1995)
Frenchopendoublesresult:1R (1992)
Wimbledondoublesresult:2R (1992)
Usopendoublesresult:1R (1992)

is a former professional tennis player.

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

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

Legend
Tier I 0
Tier II 0
Tier III 2
Tier IV & V 2
ResultW/L DateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScore
Win1–0Apr 1990SingaporeHard Sarah Loosemore7–6(7–5), 3–6, 6–4
Loss1–1Apr 1991Pattaya, ThailandHard Yayuk Basuki2–6, 2–6
Loss1–2May 1992Strasbourg, FranceClay Judith Wiesner1–6, 3–6
Loss1–3Jan 1993Melbourne, AustraliaHard Amanda Coetzer2–6, 3–6
Win2–3May 1993Strasbourg, FranceClay Judith Wiesner4–6, 6–1, 6–3
Win3–3Apr 1994SingaporeHard Florencia Labat7–5, 7–5
Win4–3Apr 1997Jakarta, IndonesiaHard Yuka Yoshida6–3, 6–2

ITF Circuit finals

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

Singles: 2 (2–0)

ResultNo.DateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScore
Win1.15 October 1989ITF Nagasaki, JapanHard Akiko Gooden6–4, 6–0
Win2.25 March 1990ITF Moulins, FranceCarpet (i) Claudia Chabalgoity6–3, 6-1

Doubles: 1 (0–1)

ResultNo.DateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Loss1.7 November 1993ITF Saga, JapanGrass Ei Iida
Maya Kidowaki
2–6, 6–3, 2-6

Performance timeline

Tournament199019911992199319941995199619971998
Australian OpenA3RA3R2RQF4R1R1R12–7
French Open2R4R1R2R2R3R2R1R2R10–9
Wimbledon1R2R4R3R4R3R3R2R3R16–9
US Open2R2R3R1R1R3R2R2R2R9–9
Win–loss2–37–45–35–45–410–47–42–44–447–34
align=left colspan="10" WTA Tier I tournaments
align=left style="background:#EFEFEF;"Romealign="center"-align="center"-align="center"-3RQF2Ralign="center"-1R2R0 / 5
align=left style="background:#EFEFEF;"Berlinalign="center"-2R2Ralign="center"-align="center"-2R3Ralign="center"-1R0 / 5
align=left style="background:#EFEFEF;"Charlestonalign="center"-align="center"-align="center"-align="center"-align="center"-align="center"-align="center"-align="center"-2R0 / 1
align=left style="background:#EFEFEF;"PhiladelphiaNot Tier Ialign="center"-align="center"-align="center"-Not Tier I0 / 0
align=left style="background:#EFEFEF;"Boca Ratonalign="center"-align="center"-3RNot Tier INot held0 / 1
align=left style="background:#EFEFEF;"TokyoNot Tier I align="center"-align="center"-QFQF2R2R0 / 4
align=left style="background:#EFEFEF;"MoscowNot Tier I or Was Not Heldalign="center"-align="center"-0 / 0
align=left style="background:#EFEFEF;"Miamialign="center"-3R3R2R4R4R2R2R3R0 / 8
align=left style="background:#EFEFEF;"Montreal/TorontoQF3R3R3R3Ralign="center"-align="center"-3R1R0 / 7
align=left style="background:#EFEFEF;"ZurichNot Tier Ialign="center"-align="center"-align="center"-1R1R1Ralign="center"-0 / 3
align=left style="background:#EFEFEF;"Indian Wellsalign="center"-align="center"-align="center"-align="center"-align="center"-SF2R2R2R0 / 4
align=left style="background:#EFEFEF;"Chicagoalign="center"-align="center"-align="center"-align="center"-align="center"-align="center"-align="center"-align="center"-0 / 0
Career statistics
Tournaments won100110010
Year-end ranking313324282617383455

Notes and References

  1. News: Venus, and Beads, Are Hit in French Open Debut. latimes.com. 27 May 1997 . 4 July 2023.
  2. Web site: Black Pean cast . https://web.archive.org/web/20240526160038/https://www.tbs.co.jp/blackpean_tbs/2018/cast/ . 26 May 2024 . 12 June 2024 . TBS Black Pean official site . Japanese.