Ai Sugiyama

Ai Sugiyama
杉山愛

Country (sports)	Japan
Residence	Kanagawa, Japan
Born	(1975-07-05) July 5, 1975 Yokohama, Japan
Height	1.63 m (5 ft 4 in)
Turned pro	October, 1992
Retired	October, 2009
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	US$ $8,128,126
Singles
Career record	492–419
Career titles	6 WTA, 1 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 8 (February 9, 2004)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	QF (2000)
French Open	4R (1995, 2000, 2003)
Wimbledon	QF (2004)
US Open	4R (2003, 2004)
Doubles
Career record	566–295
Career titles	38 (4 ITF titles)
Highest ranking	No. 1 (October 23, 2000)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	F (2009)
French Open	W (2003)
Wimbledon	W (2003)
US Open	W (2000)

Ai Sugiyama (杉山愛, Sugiyama Ai, born July 5, 1975) is a Japanese former professional tennis player. She reached No. 1 in women's doubles on the WTA Tour. Her career-high singles ranking was No. 8, achieved on February 9, 2004. In her career, she won 6 singles titles and 37 doubles titles, including three Grand Slam women's doubles titles (one with Frenchwoman Julie Halard-Decugis and two partnering Belgian Kim Clijsters). Sugiyama held the all-time record, for both male and female players, for her 62 consecutive Grand Slam main draw appearances, until surpassed by Roger Federer in 2015 Wimbledon Championship by playing his 63rd consecutive Grand Slam.^[1]

Career

1990s

In 1993, at age 17, Sugiyama played tennis legend Martina Navratilova in her native city, losing in three sets. The same year, she made her Grand Slam debut at Wimbledon but lost in the first round to world number 30 Gigi Fernández in three sets. In 1994, Sugiyama again reached the main draw at Wimbledon but lost in her first round to world number six and compatriot Kimiko Date. Later that year she reached her first singles final in Surabaya but was forced to retire against Elena Wagner. She went on to win the Japan Open doubles at Tokyo, her first tour title. Later that year, she broke into the WTA Top 100. In 1995, she won her first Grand Slam match and reached the 4th round of Roland Garros. In the first round, the Japanese player defeated 15th-seeded Grand Slam runner-up and former Top-5 player Helena Suková by 9–7 in the final set, her first victory over a Top-20 player. Two months after, she defeated Amanda Coetzer to reach the third round, while losing to world number four and former Wimbledon champion Conchita Martínez. In November, she made an impressive run at the Oakland Tier II tournament. While she was only ranked 63, she defeated 22nd-ranked Irina Spîrlea, former Wimbledon runner-up Zina Garrison Jackson, and number ten Lindsay Davenport to reach the second final of her career, where she lost to number seven Magdalena Maleeva. Because of this, Sugiyama broke into the Top 50.

In 1996, she reached the third round at the Australian Open. In Miami, seeded 23rd, Sugiyama reached the fourth round, defeating number ten Jana Novotná, her second Top-10 victory. That moved her into the Top-30. She also reached the semifinals of the Japan Open in Tokyo and the 4th round at Wimbledon, where she defeated number five Anke Huber, her third Top-10 and first Top-5 victory. She represented Japan and reached the 3rd round at the Atlanta Olympics defeating Martina Hingis.

In 1997, Sugiyama began her season by playing her third finals match, losing to Elena Likhovtseva, after defeating Sabine Appelmans in the quarter final. The following week she reached the 2nd round at the Australian Open. In April, she won her first professional title at the Japan Open in Tokyo against Amy Frazier. However, she could not reach a good result in Grand Slam events, with a 2nd round exit 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 Natasha Zvereva, number 14 Brenda Schultz-McCarthy, number 9 and multi-Grand Slam events winner Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Dominique Van Roost before failing in the final against first seed and 2nd-ranked Jana Novotná.

In 1998, she opened with a second singles title in Gold Coast. Then she broke into the WTA Top-20 and reached another semifinal in Sydney, defeating Conchita Martínez. Throughout that year, Sugiyama showed consistency: a third WTA Tour title at the Japan Open, quarterfinals in Tokyo (Pan Pacific), Berlin, defeating number 4 Amanda Coetzer, playing Strasbourg and San Diego, defeating Steffi Graf, Luxembourg, third round in Indian Wells, Miami and Montreal and second round at both French and US Open. In 1999, she reached the final at the Japan Open, the semifinals in Gold Coast and Tokyo (Princess Cup) defeating number 8 Julie Halard-Decugis, the quarterfinals in Strasbourg and Moscow, defeating number 6 Mary Pierce, 3rd in Indian Wells, Montreal, defeating number 7 Jana Novotná and at the US Open. She also reached the second round at the French Open and Wimbledon. The same year, Sugiyama won the US Open mixed doubles with Mahesh Bhupathi (India), her first Grand Slam title.

2000 - 2005

On July 10 Sugiyama reached the final of the Women's Doubles at Wimbledon, partnered by Julie Halard-Decugis, but lost in straight sets to sisters Venus and Serena Williams 6–3 6–2 after a one-day rain delay. On September 10 Sugiyama won the Women's Doubles at the US Open, defeating Cara Black of Zimbabwe and Russian Elena Likhovtseva 6–0 1–6 6–1 in one hour and 19 minutes. On October 23 she became the first Japanese woman to rank number one in the world in doubles, winning seven titles in the process.

Sugiyama's greatest success was Scottsdale 2003. Beating Lindsay Davenport in the second round, Ai went on to defeat Eleni Daniilidou to progress to the semifinals. Scheduling problems forced both the semifinals and finals matches—for both singles and doubles—to be played on the Sunday of the tournament. Thus in a single day, Ai managed to save a matchpoint in the semifinals against Alexandra Stevenson, rally from a set down to defeat doubles partner Kim Clijsters in the final, and then secure victories in both doubles matches to raise both trophies. The year 2003 proved to be her best year ever, pushing Serena Williams to the limit at Roland Garros and reaching the round of 16 in Wimbledon and US Open where her fourth round loss to Francesca Schiavone at Flushing Meadows was rather controversial. She finished the year ranked tenth, having defeated world number one Justine Henin in the round robin section of the season-ending championships. She also won a total of 8 doubles titles that year: 7 with Kim Clijsters (Sydney, Antwerp, Scottsdale, Roland Garros, Wimbledon, San Diego, Zurich) and 1 with Liezel Huber (Linz).

Sugiyama began 2005 with four consecutive first-round losses. She lost in the first rounds of the first three Grand Slams; only at San Diego did she really do well, making it to the final, which she lost 0–6 3–6 to Mary Pierce, having defeated Daniela Hantuchová, Sesil Karantacheva and Svetlana Kuznetsova en route. Sugiyama also reached the final in doubles with Hantuchová, losing to Virginia Ruano-Pascual and Conchita Martínez. She broke her Grand Slam "curse", reaching the third round before losing to Clijsters, the eventual champion.

That year, Ai had better results in doubles than in singles. Partnering with Elena Dementieva, she reached the finals of her first tournament, Sydney, losing to Bryanne Stewart/Samantha Stosur. They reached the Round of 16 at the Australian Open. She entered a few tournaments with Anastasia Myskina and Elena Likhovtseva, but with poor results. In Berlin, she played again with Daniela Hantuchová, reaching the Semifinal, losing to Black and Huber. At the French, they lost to Birnerová and Vanc in the second round. They won their next tournament, in Birmingham over Daniilidou and Russel 6–2 6–3. At Wimbledon, Hantuchová and Sugiyama reached the Quarterfinal, losing to eventual champions Black and Huber. At the Canadian Open in Toronto, they lost the semifinal to eventual champions Grönefeld and Navratilova. At the US Open, they reached the third round, losing to Zi Yan and Zheng Jie. Ai tried three partners in the next tournaments, before returning to Daniela in Zurich, where they reached the finals (beating top seeds Lisa Raymond and Stosur en route), losing a close match to Black and Rennae Stubbs, 6–7(6) 7–6(4) 6–3. They finished the year ranked #5, failing to qualify for the Year-End Championships.

Sugiyama played mixed doubles at two events: the French & the US Open. At Roland Garros, playing with Mirnyi, she lost in the first round. At the US Open, she partnered with Ullyett. The duo reached the quarterfinals, losing to eventual champions Hantuchová and Bhupathi. Entering the Doha with an 0–5 singles record, she managed to beat wildcard Selima Sfar 6–3 6–3. In the second round, she surprisingly upset (4) Myskina 7–6(2) 6–7(6) 6–4, needing several match points to close the match out. In her quarterfinal match against Julia Schruff, she had a comfortable 6–3 6–2 win. She lost in the semifinal, in an epic match against Nadia Petrova, 6–1 7–6 (2). At 0–4 in the second, she won five consecutive games to 5–4. She won the doubles title with Hantuchová, defeating Yan and Zheng in the semifinal 6–3 3–6 6–3, and Ting Li and Tiantian Sun 6–4 6–4 in the final.

2006

In Rome 2006 she and Hantuchová won the title, their third as a team and biggest title, beating Li and Sun 6–4 6–1; Black and Stubbs (2) 6–4 6–0, and Květa Peschke and Schiavone (8) 3–6 6–3 6–1.

At the French Open, 22nd seeded Ai beat Daniilidou 6–7 6–0 6–3 in the first round, but lost to French qualifier Aravane Rezaï 4–6 6–4 6–3. Deciding not to compete in the mixed, Ai and Daniella beat Caroline Dhenin and Mathilde Johansson 6–4 6–3, then squashed Sofia Arvidsson and Martina Müller 6–1 6–1; they escaped from Marion Bartoli and Shahar Pe'er, 1–6 7–6(3) 6–2. In the quarterfinals, they beat second-seeded Black and Stubbs 6–1 7–6(5). In the semifinals, they beat fourth-seeded Yan and Zheng 6–3 3–6 6–3. They lost 6–3 6–2 in the final to top-seeded Raymond and Stosur.

Wimbledon 2006 saw Sugiyama, the eighteenth seed, defeat 12th seed, Martina Hingis, 7–5 3–6 6–4 to advance to the fourth round.

The summer brought several bad singles losses, as well as doubles upsets. Sugiyama reached the final in Los Angeles, bowing to Ruano Pascual and Paola Suárez. In Montréal, she beat Aleksandra Wozniak and Anabel Medina Garrigues before losing to Kuznetsova. In doubles, partnering with Nathalie Dechy, they reached the quarterfinals.

The US Open arrived, and, seeded twenty-eighth, she defeated Zuzana Ondrášková, Tathiana Garbin before falling to second seed Justine Henin 4–6 6–1 6–0.

In Beijing, she beat qualifier Alicia Molik, who was also her doubles partner in the event, in the first round, 6–2 7–6. She then upset fourth-seeded Nicole Vaidišová 6–4 1–6 6–3 before losing to Peng Shuai in another three-set match 6–7 6–3 6–2. She reached the final of a Tier IV event in Seoul, losing to Eleni Daniilidou of Greece in three sets, 3–6 6–2 6–7.

2007

The beginning of 2007 was better than the prior two years. She lost to Anastasiya Yakimova in the second round of the Australian Open (10–8 in the third), before beating her in Miami. Sugiyama and Daniela Hantuchová reached the quarterfinals, losing to eventual champions Black and Huber. In Tokyo, she reached the quarterfinals, losing to number one Maria Sharapova 4–6, 6–1, 6–0. In Doha, she injured her toe, but recovered to reach the round of 16 in Indian Wells.

In Miami, she fell to Dinara Safina in the third. She went 0–3 in Fed Cup play versus France, losing to both Tatiana Golovin and Dechy, but rebounded to win 50k Gifu with Ayumi Morita. The Japanese duo lost only one set en route to the title. She played in Berlin with Katarina Srebotnik. They swept Lourdez Domínguez Lino and Flavia Pennetta 6–0, 6–0, but then fell to the second seeded Black and Huber 0–6, 6–4, [10–7] the same day.

Her next tournament was Rome, where she beat Maria Kirilenko in 2 hours 49 minutes 6–4, 5–7, 7–5. She lost to Pe'er 6–0, 6–2 in the next round. At Roland Garros, she reached the third round. She defeated Eva Birnerová 6–3, 6–4 in the first round and Meilen Tu 6–3, 1–6, 6–1 in the second round, but then fell to Anna Chakvetadze, the ninth seed, 6-4m 6–4. In doubles, seeded seventh with Srebotnik, she defeated Lucie Hradecká and Renata Voráčová 6–7, 7–5, 6–2 in the first round, Stéphanie Foretz and Camille Pin 6–1, 6–3 in the second round, and Pe'er and Safina 6–1, 6–2 in the third round. They then defeated Maria Elena Camerin and Gisela Dulko 4–6, 7–5, 6–3 in the quarterfinals. They upset top seeds and defending champions Raymond and Stosur in the semifinals, winning 1–6, 6–4, 6–3 to reach the French Open finals. They lost in the final to Alicia Molik and Mara Santangelo 7–6, 6–4.

At Wimbledon, seeded 26th, she beat wildcard Melanie South 6–3, 6–2 and Alizé Cornet 4–6, 6–0, 6–3. She lost 6–3, 6–3 against the second seeded Sharapova in the third round. In doubles, she and Srebotnik beat Andreea Ehritt-Vanc and Anastassia Rodionova 4–6, 6–3, 6–2; Émilie Loit and Nicole Pratt 6–0, 6–3, and got a walkover from Bartoli and Meilen Tu in the third round. In the quarterfinals, they beat Elena Likhovtseva and Sun Tiantian 6–4, 7–6 (5). They came back from 1–6, 0–3 to beat top-seeded Raymond and Stosur, winning 1–6, 6–3, 6–2. They lost in the final to the second seeded Black and Huber 3–6, 6–3, 6–2.

During the U.S. Open Series, she reached the third round of San Diego, where she defeated Sybille Bammer 6–2, 7–6. She then lost to Chakvetadze 6–4, 6–4. She reached two doubles semifinals in San Diego and Stanford with Srebotnik, losing both times to Victoria Azarenka and Chakvetadze. However, they won Toronto, defeating Peng Shuai and Yan 6–1, 7–5 in the quarterfinal, Molik and Santangelo 6–2, 6–3 in the semifinal and Black and Huber 6–4, 2–6, [10–5] in the final, winning their first title as a team.

At the 2007 US Open, Sugiyama lost in the second round to Ekaterina Makarova. Ai and Srebotnik impressively defeated Sun Shengnan and Ji Chunmei 6–0, 6–1, and eventually defeated Michaëlla Krajicek and Agnieszka Radwańska 5–7, 6–0, 6–2. The team advanced to the quarterfinals after defeating Loit and Vania King 6–3, 6–2, but lost to eventual champions Dechy and Safina 7–5, 6–3.

Srebotnik and Sugiyama continued their form and thus qualified for the 2007 WTA Tour Championships, which were held in Madrid. The team, seeded second, defeated the Taiwanese duo of Chan Yung-jan and Chuang Chia-jung 6–2, 6–2, but lost to Black and Huber in the final 5–7, 6–3, [10–8].^[2]

2008

In singles, Sugiyama's season started out badly, as she lost to Azarenka in Gold Coast and Gajdosova in Sydney. However, in Melbourne, her form returned, beating Vera Zvonareva 6–3, 1–1 ret. in the first round and Tatiana Perebiynis 6–4 6–4 in the second round, before losing to 12th seed Vaidišová, 6–3 6–4. In doubles, she and Srebotnik lost in straight sets in Sydney to Yan/Zheng, the eventual champions. In Melbourne, they drew the Williams sisters in the second round and lost 6–2 7–6. Sugiyama's dream of a career slam died.

In doubles, she reached the final in Antwerp with Peschke, as well as the semifinals in Doha and Dubai with Srebotnik.

On March 30 in the third round at the Tier I event in Miami, she upset 8th seeded Hantuchová 6–4, 6–7(8), 7–5 in an epic match. She came back after losing a match point in the second set, as well as having served for the match twice in the second set. In the third set, she was down three to none, but still managed to win. It was her first top ten win since Beijing 2006. In the next round, she lost to Zvonareva 2–6 7–6(5) 0–6. In doubles, she and Srebotnik won the title, beating Akiko Morigami and Alina Jidkova 6–4 6–3, Lucie Hradecká and Renata Voráčová 6–4 6–3, and Davenport and Hantuchová 6–4 3–6 [10–4]. They earned the title by beating Australian runners-up Azarenka and Pe'er 6–0 6–3, and number one team Black and Huber 7–5 4–6 [10–3]. It was their second team title, and Sugiyama's 8th Tier I title.

Sugiyama won her 9th Tier I doubles title with Srebotnik at Charleston at the Family Circle cup, their third team title, scoring 6–2, 6–2 over Edina Gallovits-Hall and Olga Govortsova.

Sugiyama broke the record for consecutive slam appearances woman with 57 as of her appearance in the 2008 Wimbledon tournament. Sugiyama made it to the third round of Ladies' Singles, losing to Alisa Kleybanova of Russia, 6–4, 6–4.

At Stanford, she defeated Alexa Glatch 6–2, 3–6, 7–5, and then crushed world number 11 Hantuchová 6–3, 6–1. In the quarters she beat Dominika Cibulková 6–7, 7–6, 6–3, saving 3 match points in the process.

Sugiyama and Ayumi Morita represented their nation at the 2008 Summer Olympics, losing in the second round to the Williams'.

2009

Ai started with a first round loss to Stosur, and in the women's doubles a semi-final finish losing to Klaudia Jans and Alicja Rosolska in the Brisbane International partnering Hantuchová. In the Medibank International, Sugiyama made the semi-finals eventually losing to Safina 6–4, 7–6(3)

In the 2009 Australian Open, Ai made the third round losing to Jelena Janković 6–4, 6–4. As the 9th seed in doubles playing with Hantuchová, they beat the #1 seeds Black and Huber 6–7(0), 6–3, 7–6(10). In the third set "Hantuyama" were down 5–2, but rallied to take it to a tie-break, where they saved seven match points to win 12–10. In the semi-finals, they beat Dechy and Santangelo 6–4, 6–2 to make it her first women's doubles final there. They were defeated by the Williams in two sets, 6–3, 6–3. A respiratory infection forced her to withdraw from the 2009 Open GDF Suez. Sugiyama entered the 2009 Dubai Tennis Championships and lost in the opening round to Bartoli in a tight 3-set match 0–6, 6–4, 6–7(6). Sugiyama and Hantuchová also played doubles but withdrew because of the infection.

At the 2009 BNP Paribas Open Sugiyama and Hantuchová were seeded 5 in the women's doubles but lost to the pair Alla Kudryavtseva and Rodionova 6–4, 4–6, 16–14 in the first round. In singles, she lost to qualifier Angela Haynes in the second round 4–6, 5–7.

At the Sony Ericsson open she lost her opening matches in singles and doubles, being beaten in the second round in singles after receiving a bye. Her loss in the doubles event with Hantuchová dropped her doubles ranking to number 5.

Sugiyama lost four consecutive singles matches in Miami, Stuttgart, Rome, and Madrid. However alongside Hantuchová, Sugiyama made the finals at the Rome Masters where they lost to the number 7 seeds, Su-Wei Hsieh and Peng. They reached the quarter finals at the 2009 Madrid Masters where they lost to Stosur and Stubbs, whom she and Akgul Amanmuradova beat in the finals at Eastbourne, her 38th doubles title.

On June 22 she extended her record of consecutive Grand Slam appearances to 61 at Wimbledon, defeating the seeded Patty Schnyder in straight sets 6–4 6–4 to break her 11 match losing streak. She lost in the third round to Hantuchová.

In Stanford she lost to Sharapova in three sets 4–6, 7–6, 1–6, saving two match points in the second set. She then lost in the second round in Los Angeles to Radwańska 6–2, 6–0.

Sugiyama retired at the end of the 2009 tennis season after the 2009 Toray Pan Pacific Open, held in her native country, Japan. A special ceremony for her was held at center court before the tournament. Ai planned a few months at home before concentrating on teaching youngsters at her tennis academy in Japan.^[3]

Major finals

Grand Slam finals

Women's doubles: 10 finals (3 titles, 7 runners-up)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents in the final	Score in the final
Runner-up	2000	Wimbledon	Grass	Julie Halard	Serena Williams Venus Williams	6–3, 6–2
Winner	2000	US Open	Hard	Julie Halard	Cara Black Elena Likhovtseva	6–0, 1–6, 6–1
Runner-up	2001	Wimbledon (2)	Grass	Kim Clijsters	Lisa Raymond Rennae Stubbs	6–4, 6–3
Winner	2003	French Open	Clay	Kim Clijsters	Virginia Ruano Pascual Paola Suárez	6–7, 6–2, 9–7
Winner	2003	Wimbledon	Grass	Kim Clijsters	Virginia Ruano Pascual Paola Suárez	6–4 6–4
Runner-up	2004	Wimbledon (3)	Grass	Liezel Huber	Cara Black Rennae Stubbs	6–3, 7–6
Runner-up	2006	French Open	Clay	Daniela Hantuchová	Lisa Raymond Samantha Stosur	6–3, 6–2
Runner-up	2007	French Open (2)	Clay	Katarina Srebotnik	Alicia Molik Mara Santangelo	7–6, 6–4
Runner-up	2007	Wimbledon (4)	Grass	Katarina Srebotnik	Cara Black Liezel Huber	3–6, 6–3, 6–2
Runner-up	2009	Australian Open	Hard	Daniela Hantuchová	Serena Williams Venus Williams	6–3, 6–3

Mixed doubles

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents in the final	Score in the final
Winner	1999	US Open	Hard	Mahesh Bhupathi	Kimberly Po Donald Johnson	6–4, 6–4

Olympic finals

Doubles: 1 bronze final

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
4th place	2004	Athens	Hard	Shinobu Asagoe	Paola Suárez Patricia Tarabini	3–6, 3–6

Year-End Championships finals

Doubles

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents in the final	Score in the final
Runner-up	2003	Los Angeles	Hard (i)	Kim Clijsters	Virginia Ruano Pascual Paola Suárez	6–4, 3–6, 6–3
Runner-up	2007	Madrid	Hard (i)	Katarina Srebotnik	Cara Black Liezel Huber	5–7, 6–3, [10–8]

WTA Tour finals (84)

Singles (6 titles, 7 runners-up)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in final	Score in final
Runner-up	1.	July 26, 1994	Surabaya, Indonesia	Hard	Elena Wagner	6–2, 0–6, ret.
Runner-up	2.	November 5, 1995	Oakland, United States	Carpet (I)	Magdalena Maleeva	3–6, 4–6
Runner-up	3.	January 5, 1997	Gold Coast, Australia	Hard	Elena Likhovtseva	6–3, 6–7(7–9), 3–6
Winner	1.	April 20, 1997	Tokyo, Japan	Hard	Amy Frazier	4–6, 6–4, 6–4
Runner-up	4.	November 2, 1997	Moscow, Russia	Carpet (I)	Jana Novotná	3–6, 4–6
Winner	2.	January 11, 1998	Gold Coast, Australia	Hard	María Vento-Kabchi	7–5, 6–0
Winner	3.	April 19, 1998	Tokyo, Japan	Hard	Corina Morariu	6–3, 6–3
Runner-up	5.	October 5, 1999	AIG Japan Open	Hard	Amy Frazier	2–6, 2–6
Winner	4.	March 2, 2003	Scottsdale, USA	Hard	Kim Clijsters	3–6, 7–5, 6–4
Winner	5.	October 26, 2003	Linz, Austria	Hard	Nadia Petrova	7–5, 6–4
Winner	6.	January 10, 2004	Gold Coast, Australia	Hard	Nadia Petrova	1–6, 6–1, 6–4
Runner-up	6.	August 17, 2005	Acura Classic	Hard	Mary Pierce	0–6, 3–6
Runner-up	7.	October 1, 2006	Seoul	Hard	Eleni Daniilidou	3–6, 6–2, 6–7

Doubles wins (38)

Legend (Doubles) Grand Slam (3) WTA Championships (0) Tier I (9) Tier II (18) Tier III (7) Tier IV(1)

Titles by Surface Hard (24) Clay (5) Grass (4) Carpet (5)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	April 10, 1994	Tokyo, Japan	Hard	Mami Donoshiro	Yayuk Basuki Nana Miyagi	6–4, 6–1
2.	January 14, 1995	Hobart, Australia	Hard	Kyōko Nagatsuka	Manon Bollegraf Larisa Neiland	2–6, 6–4, 6–2
3.	April 21, 1996	Tokyo, Japan	Hard	Kimiko Date	Amy Frazier Kimberly Po	7–6, 6–7, 6–3
4.	September 21, 1997	Tokyo, Japan	Hard	Monica Seles	Julie Halard-Decugis Chanda Rubin	6–1, 6–0
5.	January 10, 1998	Hope Island, Australia	Hard	Elena Likhovtseva	Park Sung-hee Wang Shi-ting	1–6, 6–3, 6–4
6.	October 31, 1998	Luxembourg, Luxembourg	Carpet	Elena Likhovtseva	Larisa Neiland Elena Tatarkova	6–7, 6–3, 2–0 ret.
7.	November 8, 1998	Leipzig, Germany	Carpet	Elena Likhovtseva	Manon Bollegraf Irina Spîrlea	6–3, 6–7, 6–2
8.	November 15, 1998	Philadelphia, United States	Carpet	Elena Likhovtseva	Monica Seles Natasha Zvereva	7–5, 4–6, 6–2
9.	January 16, 1999	Sydney, Australia	Hard	Elena Likhovtseva	Mary Joe Fernández Anke Huber	6–3, 2–6, 6–0
10.	May 22, 1999	Strasbourg, France	Clay	Elena Likhovtseva	Alexandra Fusai Nathalie Tauziat	2–6, 7–6, 6–1
11.	January 15, 2000	Sydney, Australia	Hard	Julie Halard-Decugis	Martina Hingis Mary Pierce	6–0, 6–3
12.	April 2, 2000	Miami, United States	Hard	Julie Halard-Decugis	Nicole Arendt Manon Bollegraf	4–6, 7–5, 6–4
13.	June 24, 2000	Eastbourne, Great Britain	Grass	Nathalie Tauziat	Lisa Raymond Rennae Stubbs	2–6, 6–3, 7–6(3)
14.	August 27, 2000	New Haven, United States	Hard	Julie Halard-Decugis	Virginia Ruano Pascual Paola Suárez	6–4, 5–7, 6–2
15.	September 10, 2000	New York, United States	Hard	Julie Halard-Decugis	Cara Black Elena Likhovtseva	6–0, 1–6, 6–1
16.	October 8, 2000	Tokyo, Japan	Hard	Julie Halard-Decugis	Nana Miyagi Paola Suárez	6–0, 6–2
17.	October 29, 2000	Moscow, Russia	Carpet	Julie Halard-Decugis	Martina Hingis Anna Kournikova	4–6, 6–4, 7–6(5)
18.	January 13, 2001	Canberra, Australia	Hard	Nicole Arendt	Esme De Villiers Annabel Ellwood	6–4, 7–6(2)
19.	March 17, 2001	Indian Wells, United States	Hard	Nicole Arendt	Virginia Ruano Pascual Paola Suárez	6–4, 6–4
20.	February 23, 2002	Memphis, United States	Hard	Elena Tatarkova	Melissa Middleton Brie Rippner	6–4, 2–6, 6–0
21.	January 11, 2003	Sydney, Australia	Hard	Kim Clijsters	Conchita Martínez Rennae Stubbs	6–3, 6–3
22.	February 16, 2003	Antwerp, Belgium	Carpet	Kim Clijsters	Nathalie Dechy Émilie Loit	6–2, 6–0
23.	March 2, 2003	Scottsdale, United States	Hard	Kim Clijsters	Lindsay Davenport Lisa Raymond	6–1, 6–4
24.	June 8, 2003	Paris, France	Clay	Kim Clijsters	Virginia Ruano Pascual Paola Suárez	6–7(5), 6–2, 9–7
25.	July 6, 2003	London, Great Britain	Grass	Kim Clijsters	Virginia Ruano Pascual Paola Suárez	6–4, 6–4
26.	August 3, 2003	San Diego, United States	Hard	Kim Clijsters	Lindsay Davenport Lisa Raymond	6–4, 7–5
27.	October 19, 2003	Zürich, Switzerland	Hard	Kim Clijsters	Virginia Ruano Pascual Paola Suárez	7–6(3), 6–2
28.	October 26, 2003	Linz, Austria	Hard	Liezel Huber	Marion Bartoli Silvia Farina Elia	6–1, 7–6(6)
29.	August 8, 2004	Montreal, Canada	Hard	Shinobu Asagoe	Liezel Huber Tamarine Tanasugarn	6–0, 6–3
30.	September 19, 2004	Bali, Indonesia	Hard	Anastasia Myskina	Svetlana Kuznetsova Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	6–3, 7–5
31.	June 12, 2005	Birmingham, Great Britain	Grass	Daniela Hantuchová	Eleni Daniilidou Jennifer Russell	6–2, 6–3
32.	March 4, 2006	Doha, Qatar	Hard	Daniela Hantuchová	Li Ting Sun Tiantian	6–4, 6–4
33.	May 21, 2006	Rome, Italy	Clay	Daniela Hantuchová	Květa Peschke Francesca Schiavone	3–6, 6–3, 6–1
34.	August 19, 2007	Toronto, Canada	Hard	Katarina Srebotnik	Cara Black Liezel Huber	6–4, 2–6 [10–5]
35.	April 6, 2008	Miami, U.S.	Hard	Katarina Srebotnik	Cara Black Liezel Huber	7–5, 4–6 [10–3]
36.	April 20, 2008	Charleston, South Carolina, U.S.	Clay	Katarina Srebotnik	Edina Gallovits Olga Govortsova	6–2, 6–2
37.	October 26, 2008	Linz, Austria	Hard(i)	Katarina Srebotnik	Cara Black Liezel Huber	6–4, 7–5
38.	June 20, 2009	Eastbourne, Great Britain	Grass	Akgul Amanmuradova	Samantha Stosur Rennae Stubbs	6–4, 6–3

Doubles runners-up (33)

• 2009: Australian Open, Rome, Tokyo (w. Hantuchová)
• 2008: Antwerp (w. Peschke)
• 2007: Wimbledon, Roland Garros, Linz, WTA Tour Championships (w. Srebotnik)
• 2006: Roland Garros, Los Angeles (w. Hantuchová)
• 2005: Sydney (w. Dementieva), San Diego, Zurich (w. Hantuchová)
• 2004: Wimbledon (w. Huber), Olympics (lost bronze medal match with Asagoe)
• 2003: Berlin, Indian Wells, Tours Championships (all w. Clijsters), Shanghai (w. Tanasugarn)
• 2002: San Diego, Los Angeles (both w. Hantuchová), Montréal (Canadian Open), Shanghai, Linz (all w. Fujiwara)
• 2001: Wimbledon, Tokyo (both w. Clijsters)
• 2000: Wimbledon, Montréal (Canadian Open), Linz (all w. Halard-Decugis)
• 1999: Paris, Leipzig (both w. Likhovtseva)
• 1997: Strasbourg (w. Likhovtseva)
• 1995: Tokyo (w. Nagatsuka)
• 1994: Surabaya (w. Nagatsuka)

Singles performance timeline

Tournament	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	Career SR	Career Win-Loss
Australian Open	A	LQ	LQ	1R	3R	2R	4R	1R	QF	1R	3R	2R	2R	1R	1R	2R	3R	3R	0 / 14	17–14
French Open	A	LQ	A	4R	1R	2R	2R	2R	4R	1R	2R	4R	2R	1R	2R	3R	2R	1R	0 / 15	18–15
Wimbledon	A	1R	1R	1R	4R	1R	1R	2R	2R	3R	3R	4R	QF	1R	4R	3R	3R	3R	0 / 17	25–17
US Open	LQ	A	1R	2R	2R	2R	2R	3R	2R	2R	2R	4R	4R	3R	3R	2R	3R	1R	0 / 16	22–16
WTA Premier Mandatory Tournaments
Indian Wells	Not Tier I				3R	2R	3R	3R	3R	4R	4R	4R	A	A	4R	4R	3R	2R	0 / 12	19–12
Miami	A	A	1R	1R	4R	3R	3R	A	3R	2R	3R	3R	2R	3R	QF	3R	4R	2R	0 / 15	18–16
Madrid	Not Held																	1R	0 / 1	0–1
Beijing	Not Held												Not Tier I					A	0 / 0	0–0
WTA Premier 5 Tournaments
Dubai	Not Held									Not Tier I								1R	0 / 1	0–1
Rome	A	A	A	A	A	1R	1R	1R	2R	1R	3R	SF	3R	3R	2R	2R	1R	1R	0 / 13	11–13
Cincinnati	Not Held												Not Tier I					1R	0 / 1	0–1
Toronto/Montréal	A	A	A	A	A	2R	3R	3R	1R	2R	3R	A	3R	2R	3R	1R	QF	2R	0 / 12	15–12
Tokyo	NH	1R	1R	1R	2R	2R	QF	2R	1R	QF	1R	2R	QF	1R	1R	QF	1R	1R	0 / 18	20–18
Former WTA Tier I Tournaments (currently neither Premier Mandatory nor Premier 5 events)
Moscow	NH	Not Tier I				F	1R	QF	2R	A	A	A	1R	A	A	A	A	NM5	0 / 5	7–5
Charleston	A	A	A	A	A	2R	1R	A	A	1R	2R	A	A	3R	A	A	2R		0 / 6	5–6
Zürich	NT1	A	A	A	A	2R	1R	1R	1R	A	1R	2R	QF	1R	2R	LQ	NTI	Not Held	0 / 17	20–17
San Diego	Not Tier I												QF	F	1R	3R	NTI		0 / 4	9–4
Doha	Not Held									Not Tier I							3R		0 / 1	2–1
Berlin	A	A	A	A	1R	1R	QF	1R	1R	2R	A	1R	3R	1R	1R	A	A		0 / 10	5–10
Career statistics
Tournaments Played	16	17	14	17	19	26	23	23	25	25	27	26	24	27	25	23	24	19		409
Finals Reached	0	0	1	1	0	3	2	1	0	0	0	2	1	1	1	0	0	0		13
Tournaments Won	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	0	0	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	0		6
Overall Win-Loss	23–15	21–17	19–16	18–17	24–21	32–28	37–21	29–24	20–25	28–25	37–27	44–25	33–25	31–27	30–25	22–25	29–27	8–20		492–417
Year End Ranking	180	142	72	46	32	20	18	24	33	30	24	10	17	30	26	38	31	N/A		N/A

A = did not participate in the tournament

SR = the ratio of the number of singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played

LQ = lost in the qualifying tournament

Women's doubles performance timeline

Tournament	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	Career SR	Career win-loss
Australian Open	1R	-	2R	2R	1R	QF	2R	QF	SF	3R	QF	SF	3R	3R	QF	2R	F	0 / 16	35–16
French Open	-	-	2R	2R	2R	3R	QF	SF	3R	SF	W	1R	2R	F	F	2R	3R	1 / 15	36–13
Wimbledon	-	1R	1R	1R	1R	3R	2R	F	F	3R	W	F	QF	1R	F	2R	2R	1 / 14	36–15
US Open	-	2R	3R	1R	2R	–	1R	W	-	1R	2R	SF	3R	2R	QF	SF	3R	1 / 11	27–13
WTA Premier Mandatory Tournaments
Indian Wells	Not Tier I				2R	QF	QF	2R	W	2R	F	A	A	QF	1R	SF	1R	1 / 11	21–10
Miami	A	A	QF	2R	1R	QF	A	W	1R	1R	QF	QF	1R	QF	1R	W	1R	2 / 14	20–12
Madrid	Not Held																QF	0 / 1	2–1
Beijing	Not Held											Not Tier I					A	0 / 0	0–0
WTA Premier 5 Tournaments
Dubai	Not Held								Not Tier I								A	0 / 0	0–0
Rome	A	A	A	A	1R	2R	2R	QF	QF	QF	A	2R	QF	W	2R	2R	F	1 / 12	14–11
Cincinnati	Not Held											Not Tier I					QF	0 / 1	1–1
Toronto/Montréal	A	A	A	A	2R	2R	QF	F	QF	F	A	W	SF	QF	W	QF	SF	2 / 12	28–10
Tokyo	2R	1R	1R	1R	1R	SF	QF	1R	SF	1R	SF	QF	SF	QF	1R	1R	F	0 / 17	15–16
Former WTA Tier I Tournaments (currently neither Premier Mandatory nor Premier 5 events)
Moscow	Not Tier I				SF	1R	SF	W	A	A	A	SF	A	A	A	A	NM5	0 / 5	10–4
Charleston	A	A	A	A	2R	1R	A	A	A	1R	A	A	2R	A	A	W		1 / 5	5–4
Zürich	A	A	A	A	1R	QF	QF	1R	A	1R	W	F	SF	QF	SF	NTI	Not Held	1 / 10	14–9
San Diego	Not Tier I											1R	F	QF	SF	NTI		0 / 4	7–4
Doha	Not Held								Not Tier I							SF		0 / 1	2–1
Berlin	A	A	A	2R	QF	2R	QF	A	A	F	A	SF	QF	QF	A	A		0 / 8	13–8
Career statistics
Tournaments Played	11	12	16	14	23	22	23	25	17	26	22	19	23	21	21	21	17		333
Finals Reached	0	2	2	1	2	4	3	10	4	6	14	3	4	4	5	4	4		13
Tournaments Won	0	1	1	1	1	4	2	7	2	1	8	2	1	2	1	3	1		38
Overall Win-Loss	8–10	16–9	18–15	11–12	23–22	38–18	31–21	59–17	35–15	40–24	59–12	36–16	35–20	37–18	38–19	40–17	29–15		566–295
Year End Ranking	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	1	?	3	9	14	12	6	11	?	N/A		N/A

Mixed doubles performance timeline

Tournament	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	Career win-loss
Australian Open	-	-	-	2R	-	2R	-	2R	-	-	2R	-	-	4–4
French Open	3R	-	-	QF	SF	1R	-	-	-	1R	-	1R	-	9–6
Wimbledon	1R	-	-	2R	-	QF	-	-	SF	-	1R	-	QF	11–6
US Open	-	-	-	W	1R	SF	-	-	2R	QF	-	-	1R	11–5

WTA Tour career earnings

Year	Grand Slam singles titles	WTA singles titles	Total singles titles	Earnings ($)	Money list rank
1992–94	0	0	0	132,587	n/a
1995	0	0	0	154,316	37
1996	0	0	0	160,077	43
1997	0	1	1	307,837	26
1998	0	2	2	377,728	19
1999	0	0	0	405,148	24
2000	0	0	0	729,635	12
2001	0	0	0	436,427	26
2002	0	0	0	416,408	26
2003	0	2	2	1,254,283	7
2004	0	1	1	736,354	17
2005	0	0	0	495,592	25
2006	0	0	0	595,062	25
2007	0	0	0	691,897	21
2008	0	0	0	757,201	18
2009	0	0	0	477,574	44
Career	0	6	6	8,128,126	27

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ai Sugiyama.

• Official website
• Ai Sugiyama at the Women's Tennis Association
• Ai Sugiyama at the International Tennis Federation
• Ai Sugiyama at the Fed Cup