Lily Miyazaki Explained

Lily Miyazaki
Itf Name:Yuriko Lily Miyazaki
Country Represented: (2013–2022)
(2022–)
Birth Date:11 November 1995[1]
Birth Place:Tokyo, Japan
Residence:London, England
Height:1.65m (05.41feet)
Plays:Right (two-handed backhand)
College:Oklahoma (2014–2018)
Careerprizemoney:$683,791
Singlestitles:7 ITF
Highestsinglesranking:No. 132 (22 July 2024)
Currentsinglesranking:No. 132 (22 July 2024)
Australianopenresult:Q3 (2023)
Frenchopenresult:Q2 (2022)
Wimbledonresult:2R (2024)
Usopenresult:2R (2023)
Doublestitles:8 ITF
Highestdoublesranking:No. 184 (22 July 2024)
Currentdoublesranking:No. 184 (22 July 2024)
Wimbledondoublesresult:2R (2024)
Updated:15 July 2024

Yuriko Lily Miyazaki (born 11 November 1995) is a Japanese-born British tennis player.She has career-high rankings by the WTA of world No. 132 in singles and No. 184 in doubles.[2] She has won seven singles titles and eight doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit.

Early life, junior and college career

Miyazaki settled in London aged 10, having previously lived in Tokyo and then Switzerland. She trained at Sutton Tennis Academy up until the age of 18. She switched to British nationality in March 2022, as Japanese citizens are not allowed to hold dual citizenship.[3]

Miyazaki attended the University of Oklahoma (2014–2019), where she completed an undergraduate degree in mathematics followed by a master's degree in information technology management. She played singles all four years at Oklahoma, recording an overall record of 96–35, and was named to the All-Big 12 first team three times.[4]

Professional

Miyazaki made her WTA Tour main-draw debut at the 2021 Transylvania Open, partnering Anastasia Gasanova in the doubles tournament. She made her WTA Tour singles debut at the 2022 Lyon Open, after qualifying for the main draw.[5] Miyazaki switched from representing Japan to Great Britain in March 2022.[6]

In June 2022, it was announced that Miyazaki had been awarded a main-draw wildcard for the 2022 Wimbledon Championships, where she made her Grand Slam debut.[7] [8]

In October 2022, Miyazaki won her first $60k title in Glasgow beating former top 40 player, compatriot Heather Watson, in the final, coming back from a set and a double break down.[9]

In September 2023, she made her Grand Slam debut at the US Open and recorded her first win at this major as a qualifier.She made her breakthrough by coming through three rounds of qualifying defeating 23rd seed Daria Snigur, and Valeria Savinykh in straight sets, and ninth seed Viktória Hrunčáková in the final round.[10] In the first round of the main draw, she drew former top-50 player Margarita Betova, who had entered on a protected ranking following injuries and a maternity break. Miyazaki won in straight sets, achieving her first ever Grand Slam singles win. She subsequently lost in the second round to 15th seed Belinda Bencic winning three games in each set,[11] and rose to a career-high ranking of No. 154 on 11 September 2023, after the event.[12]

Given a wildcard entry into the main draw at Wimbledon, Miyazaki won her first-round match against Tamara Korpatsch 6–2, 6–1,[13] [14] before being double-bagelled by 12th seed Daria Kasatkina in round two.[15] [16]

Grand Slam performance timelines

Singles

Tournament202220232024Win %
Australian OpenQ1Q3Q10 / 00–0
French OpenQ2Q1Q10 / 00–0
Wimbledon1RQ22R0/ 21–2
US OpenQ1bgcolor=afeeee 2R0 / 11–1
Win–loss0–11–10 / 32–3

ITF Circuit finals

Singles: 12 (7 titles, 5 runner–ups)

Legend
W60/75 tournaments
W25 tournaments
W10/15 tournaments
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScore
Loss0–1May 2014ITF Sharm El Sheikh, EgyptW10Hard Anastasiya Saitova3–6, 2–6
Loss0–2Dec 2019ITF Monastir, TunisiaW15Hard Anastasia Kulikova6–7(6), 4–6
Win1–2Dec 2019ITF Monastir, TunisiaW15Hard Yana Karpovich6–0, 6–3
Win2–2Mar 2020Yokohama Challenger, JapanW25Hard Mai Hontama7–5, 5–7, 6–2
Win3–2Mar 2021ITF Sharm El Sheikh, EgyptW15Hard Momoko Kobori6–2, 4–6, 6–3
Win4–2Mar 2021ITF Sharm El Sheikh, EgyptW15Hard Matilda Mutavdzic6–3, 6–3
Loss4–3Aug 2021ITF Vigo, SpainW25Hard Olivia Gadecki2–6, 4–6
Loss4–4Oct 2021Las Vegas Open, United StatesW60Hard Emina Bektas1–6, 1–6
Win5–4Oct 2022GB Pro-Series Glasgow, UKW60Hard (i) Heather Watson5–7, 7–6(6), 6–2
Loss5–5Dec 2022Indoor Championships Kyoto, JapanW60Hard (i) Miyu Kato4–6, 6–2, 2–6
Win6–5Jan 2024Open Andrézieux-Bouthéon, FranceW75Hard (i) Jessika Ponchet3–6, 6–4, 6–1
Win7–5Mar 2024Open de Seine-et-Marne, FranceW75Hard (i) Mona Barthel6–4, 7–5

Doubles: 13 (8 titles, 5 runner-ups)

Legend
W60 tournaments
W40/50 tournaments
W25 tournaments
W15 tournaments
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Win1–0Jun 2017ITF Guimarães, PortugalW15Hard Arianne Hartono Maria Masini
Olga Parres Azcoitia
7–5, 6–0
Loss1–1Apr 2019ITF Cancún, MexicoW15Hard Mathilde Armitano Victoria Rodríguez
Marcela Zacarías
2–6, 0–6
Loss1–2Oct 2019ITF Andrézieux-Bouthéon, FranceW15Hard (i) Emily Appleton Valentina Losciale
Carla Touly
5–7, 3–6
Win2–2Nov 2020Lousada Indoor Open, PortugalW15Hard (i) Arianne Hartono Riya Bhatia
Inês Murta
6–1, 5–7, [10–7]
Loss2–3Feb 2021Open de l'Isère, FranceW25Hard (i) Arianne Hartono Ioana Loredana Roșca
Kimberley Zimmermann
1–6, 5–7
Loss2–4Mar 2021ITF Sharm El Sheikh, EgyptW15Hard Alicia Barnett Momoko Kobori
Ayano Shimizu
4–6, 1–6
Win3–4Mar 2021ITF Sharm El Sheikh, EgyptW15Hard Alicia Barnett Ku Yeon-woo
Raphaëlle Lacasse
6–4, 6–1
Win4–4Jun 2021ITF Porto, PortugalW25Hard Arianne Hartono Mana Ayukawa
Akiko Omae
7–5, 6–2
Win5–4Oct 2021ITF Florence, United StatesW25Hard Emily Appleton Robin Anderson
Elysia Bolton
6–3, 1–6, [10–8]
Win6–4Feb 2022Open de l'Isère, FranceW60Hard (i) Prarthana Thombare Alicia Barnett
Olivia Nicholls
6–3, 6–3
Win7–4Aug 2023ITF Roehampton, UKW25Hard Mariam Bolkvadze Talia Gibson
Petra Hule
7–5, 6–3
Win8–4Oct 2023Open Nantes Atlantique, FranceW60Hard (i) Ali Collins Emily Appleton
Isabelle Haverlag
7–6(4), 6–2
Loss8–5Feb 2024ITF Edgbaston, UKW50Hard (i) Ali Collins Magali Kempen
Lara Salden
6–7(6), 2–6

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Yuriko Miyazaki. Tennisexplorer.com.
  2. Web site: Yuriko Miyazaki | Player Stats & More . Wtatennis.com.
  3. Web site: Wimbledon 2022: Britwatch - which British players are competing? . LTA . . 10 November 2022 . 8 July 2022.
  4. Web site: Lily Miyazaki – 2017-18 – Women's Tennis. University of Oklahoma Athletics. 2023-11-07.
  5. Web site: October 6, 2022 . Welcome to the tour: All of 2022's WTA debutantes . 24 October 2022 . WTA Tennis.
  6. News: Miyazaki to represent Great Britain . BBC Sport.
  7. Web site: Initial Wild Cards for The Championships 2022. Wimbledon.com. 4 July 2022.
  8. Web site: Wimbledon 2022's Grand Slam debuts: Hontama, Chwalinska, Kartal and more. Wtatennis.com.
  9. Web site: 24 October 2022 . W60 Glasgow 2022 ITF . 24 October 2022 . International Tennis Federation.
  10. Web site: Meet the 2023 US Open women's qualifiers .
  11. News: US Open 2023 results: Lily Miyazaki loses to Belinda Bencic in New York . 31 August 2023 . BBC Sport.
  12. News: Djokovic and Swiatek through at US Open as Tsitsipas and Miyazaki depart .
  13. Web site: Lily Miyazaki in the money after ‘one of the best wins’ in her career. The Independent. 4 July 2024.
  14. Web site: Kartal and Miyazaki pull off Wimbledon wins but Broom and Watson go out. The Guardian. 4 July 2024.
  15. Web site: Wild card Lily Miyazaki beaten 6-0 6-0 at start of big day for British tennis. Express and Star. 4 July 2024.
  16. Web site: Briton Miyazaki beaten by Kasatkina in 50 minutes. BBC Sport. 4 July 2024.