Shinobu Asagoe

Shinobu Asagoe
浅越しのぶ
Country (sports) Japan
ResidenceHyōgo
Born (1976-06-28) 28 June 1976 (age 47)
Hyōgo
Height1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Turned pro1997
Retired2006
PlaysRight-handed
Prize money$1,662,261
Singles
Career record275–208 (56.9%)
Career titles9 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 21 (18 April 2005)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open2R (2005, 2006)
French Open4R (2004)
Wimbledon4R (2003)
US OpenQF (2004)
Doubles
Career record226–148 (60.4%)
Career titles8 WTA, 10 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 13 (8 May 2006)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian OpenSF (2006)
French OpenQF (2002, 2005)
Wimbledon3R (2003, 2005)
US Open3R (2005, 2006)
Team competitions
Fed Cup17–10

Shinobu Asagoe (浅越しのぶ, Asagoe Shinobu, born 28 June 1976) is a Japanese former tennis player. She turned professional in 1997, and retired in 2006.

Career

2000 was the first year in which she finished in the WTA top 100 (No. 72). At the US Open that year, she defeated Patty Schnyder, a top-50 player. She also reached her first WTA Tour quarterfinal that year at the Princess Cup at Tokyo, defeating Ai Sugiyama and losing to Monica Seles. She also represented Japan at the Sydney Olympics. In 2003, she reached her first WTA singles final. In 2004, she reached her second career singles final in Hobart, as well as her first Grand Slam quarterfinal at the US Open. In April 2005, Asagoe reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 21. In May of the following year, she reached her career-high doubles ranking (13th).

Asagoe appeared in one WTA Tour final, in Auckland 2003, where she lost to Katarina Srebotnik in three sets. Asagoe held a 4–0 lead in the second set when Srebotnik took an injury timeout. From there, Strebotnik played "all in" tennis and won the match, in what was an agonising result for Asagoe.

Her most memorable match was a second-round marathon at Wimbledon 2003, when her stressed-out opponent, Daniela Hantuchová, melted down well on the way to what looked like a routine two-set win. Eventually, after nearly three hours, Asagoe won the contest 12–10 in the third set.

She played doubles with Katarina Srebotnik. At the 2006 Australian Open, they reached the semifinals by beating Cara Black/Rennae Stubbs 6–3, 4–6, 6–0. They lost to eventual champions Yan/Zheng in the semifinals.

At the US Open that same year, she lost her first-round match in straight sets to Jelena Kostanić. She had announced, the US Open would be her last tournament. In doubles, with Akiko Morigami, they won their first-round match 6–1, 6–3, and they were to play against the 14th seeds, Marion Bartoli/Shahar Peer. Bartoli/Peer were up 6–4, 5–2, before Shinobu and Akiko won four straight games to make it 6–5. They held many set points at 6–5, but could not convert, thus forcing a tiebreaker; they were down 2–6, but won six straight points, thus taking the tiebreaker, saving four straight match points. They took the final set 6–4.

Asagoe retired at the 2006 US Open, after losing her third-round doubles match (with Morigami) to the world's top-ranked team Lisa Raymond/Samantha Stosur.

Significant finals

Olympic games

Doubles: 1 bronze final

Result Year Location Surface Partner Opponents Score
4th place 2004 Athens, Greece Hard Japan Ai Sugiyama Argentina Paola Suárez
Argentina Patricia Tarabini
3–6, 3–6

WTA career finals

Singles: 3 (3 runner-ups)

Legend
Tier I (0–0)
Tier II (0–0)
Tier III (0–1)
Tier IV & V (0–2)
Result No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Loss 1. Jun 2003 Birmingham, Great Britain Grass Bulgaria Magdalena Maleeva 1–6, 4–6
Loss 2. Jan 2004 Hobart, Australia Hard United States Amy Frazier 3–6, 3–6
Loss 3. Jan 2005 Auckland, New Zealand Hard Slovenia Katarina Srebotnik 7–5, 5–7, 4–6

Doubles: 12 (8 titles, 4 runner-ups)

Legend
Tier I (1–1)
Tier II (1–0)
Tier III (4–2)
Tier IV & V (2–1)
Result No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1. Jun 2002 Birmingham, Great Britain Grass Belgium Els Callens United States Kimberly Po
France Nathalie Tauziat
6–4, 6–3
Win 2. Oct 2002 Tokyo, Japan Hard Japan Nana Miyagi Russia Svetlana Kuznetsova
Spain Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
6–4, 4–6, 6–4
Loss 1. Mar 2003 Miami, United States Hard Japan Nana Miyagi South Africa Liezel Huber
Bulgaria Magdalena Maleeva
4–6, 6–3, 5–7
Loss 2. Apr 2003 Sarasota, United States Clay Japan Nana Miyagi South Africa Liezel Huber
United States Martina Navratilova
6–7(8–10), 3–6
Win 3. Jan 2004 Hobart, Australia Hard Japan Seiko Okamoto Belgium Els Callens
Austria Barbara Schett
2–6, 6–4, 6–3
Win 4. Aug 2004 Montreal, Canada Hard Japan Ai Sugiyama South Africa Liezel Huber
Thailand Tamarine Tanasugarn
6–0, 6–3
Win 5. Oct 2004 Tokyo, Japan Hard Slovenia Katarina Srebotnik United States Jennifer Hopkins
United States Mashona Washington
6–1, 6–4
Win 6. Jan 2005 Auckland, New Zealand Hard Slovenia Katarina Srebotnik New Zealand Leanne Baker
Italy Francesca Lubiani
6–3, 6–3
Loss 3. Oct 2005 Tokyo, Japan Hard Venezuela María Vento-Kabchi Argentina Gisela Dulko
Russia Maria Kirilenko
5–7, 6–4, 3–6
Win 7. Oct 2005 Bangkok, Thailand Hard Argentina Gisela Dulko Spain Conchita Martínez
Spain Virginia Ruano Pascual
6–1, 7–5
Loss 4. Mar 2006 Acapulco, Mexico Clay France Émilie Loit Germany Anna-Lena Grönefeld
United States Meghann Shaughnessy
1–6, 3–6
Win 8. Apr 2006 Amelia Island, United States Clay Slovenia Katarina Srebotnik South Africa Liezel Huber
India Sania Mirza
6–2, 6–4

ITF Circuit finals

Legend
$100,000 tournaments
$75,000 tournaments
$50,000 tournaments
$25,000 tournaments
$10,000 tournaments

Singles: 15 (9–6)

Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Winner 1. 27 May 1996 ITF Taipei, Taiwan Hard Japan Tomoe Hotta 6–3, 6–0
Winner 2. 13 October 1996 ITF Kugayama, Japan Hard Japan Akiko Morigami 6–1, 3–6, 6–1
Winner 3. 21 October 1996 ITF Kyoto, Japan Hard Japan Keiko Nagatomi 6–2, 6–4
Winner 4. 18 May 1997 ITF Caboolture, Australia Hard Australia Renee Reid 6–4, 6–1
Runner-up 5. 25 May 1997 ITF Gympie, Australia Hard Australia Renee Reid 6–3, 3–6, 4–6
Runner-up 6. 8 June 1997 ITF Ipswich, Australia Hard Australia Renee Reid 1–6, 3–6
Runner-up 7. 12 October 1997 ITF Saga, Japan Grass South Africa Surina De Beer 1–6, 7–5, 3–6
Winner 8. 22 May 1998 ITF Noda, Japan Hard Japan Haruka Inoue 6–2, 6–4
Winner 9. 15 March 1999 ITF Noda, Japan Hard Switzerland Mirka Federer 7–5, 6–4
Winner 10. 4 April 1999 ITF Clermont, United States Hard Japan Nana Smith 5–7, 6–4, 6–1
Runner-up 11. 1 May 2000 ITF Gifu, Japan Grass Thailand Tamarine Tanasugarn 5–7, 5–6
Runner-up 12. 7 April 2002 ITF Dubai, United Arab Emirates Hard Indonesia Angelique Widjaja 6–7(4), 2–6
Runner-up 13. 5 May 2002 ITF Gifu, Japan Hard United Kingdom Julie Pullin 6–4, 4–6, 3–6
Winner 14. 20 October 2002 ITF Haibara, Japan Carpet Japan Aiko Nakamura 6–4, 7–5
Winner 15. 5 May 2003 ITF Gifu, Japan Hard Japan Saori Obata 6–4, 6–1

Doubles: 19 (10-9)

Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Runner-up 1. 3 October 1994 ITF Ibaraki, Japan Hard Japan Haruka Inoue South Korea Kim Il-soon
Japan Yoriko Yamagishi
2–6, 1–6
Winner 2. 16 October 1995 ITF Kugayama, Japan Hard Japan Yuko Hosoki Australia Natalie Frawley
Australia Jenny Anne Fetch
6–4, 7–6(3)
Winner 3. 3 June 1996 ITF Taichung, Taiwan Hard Japan Yuka Tanaka Japan Tomoe Hotta
Japan Sachie Umehara
6–0, 6–1
Runner-up 4. 4 May 1997 Gifu, Japan Hard Japan Yasuko Nishimata Japan Saori Obata
Japan Kaoru Shibata
3–6, 5–7
Winner 5. 17 May 1997 Caboolture, Australia Clay Thailand Benjamas Sangaram South Africa Nannie de Villiers
Australia Lisa McShea
6–4, 7–5
Winner 6. 24 May 1997 Gympie, Australia Clay Thailand Benjamas Sangaram South Africa Nannie de Villiers
Australia Lisa McShea
5–7, 6–3, 6–3
Runner-up 7. 31 May 1997 Bundaberg, Australia Clay Thailand Benjamas Sangaram South Africa Nannie de Villiers
Australia Lisa McShea
6–4, 1–6, 1–6
Runner-up 8. 7 June 1997 Ipswich, Australia Clay Thailand Benjamas Sangaram South Africa Nannie de Villiers
Australia Lisa McShea
4–6, 6–3, 5–7
Winner 9. 18 October 1998 Seoul, South Korea Hard Germany Kirstin Freye Australia Catherine Barclay
South Korea Choi Young-ja
6–2, 7–6
Runner-up 10. 21 March 1999 Noda, Japan Hard Japan Yuka Yoshida South Korea Cho Yoon-jeong
South Korea Park Sung-hee
3–6, 3–6
Runner-up 11. 24 October 1999 Nashville, United States Hard Japan Yuka Yoshida United States Nicole Arendt
United States Katie Schlukebir
1–6, 6–7
Winner 12. 7 May 2000 Gifu, Japan Hard Japan Yuka Yoshida South Africa Nannie de Villiers
South Africa Surina De Beer
6–3, 6–1
Winner 13. 14 May 2000 Seoul, South Korea Clay Japan Saori Obata China Li Na
China Li Ting
6–1, 6–3
Winner 14. 26 November 2002 Minneapolis, United States Hard (i) Belgium Els Callens Japan Rika Hiraki
Japan Nana Smith
7–6(3), 7–6(3)
Runner-up 15. 1 May 2002 Gifu, Japan Grass Japan Rika Fujiwara South Korea Cho Yoon-jeong
Australia Evie Dominikovic
2–6, 2–6
Winner 16. 12 May 2002 Fukuoka, Japan Hard South Korea Cho Yoon-jeong United Kingdom Julie Pullin
United Kingdom Lorna Woodroffe
6–2, 6–4
Runner-up 17. 18 August 2002 Bronx, United States Hard Japan Nana Smith Estonia Maret Ani
Italy Flavia Pennetta
4–6, 1–6
Runner-up 18. 27 April 2003 Gifu, Japan Grass Japan Nana Smith Japan Rika Fujiwara
Japan Saori Obata
6–1, 5–7, 3–6
Winner 19. 8 June 2003 ITF Surbiton, United Kingdom Grass Japan Nana Smith United States Bethanie Mattek-Sands
United States Lilia Osterloh
7–6, 3–6, 6–4

External links