Kenichi Hirai (born 19 March 1950) is a Japanese former professional

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player.

Biography

Hirai, who was born in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, was a six-time doubles champion at the All Japan Tennis Championships. Debuting in 1973, Hirai featured in a total 19

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...

ties for Japan and won 21 matches overall, 11 in singles and 10 in doubles. Hirai won two medals at the

1973 Summer Universiade The 1973 Summer Universiade, also known as the VII Summer Universiade, took place in Moscow, Soviet Union. Sports and venues at the 1973 Summer Universiade * (Central Lenin Stadium) * ( Sport Palace of the Central Lenin Stadium) * (Tchaika Po ...

in Moscow, a bronze in the singles and silver in the mixed doubles. In 1974 he became the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

doubles champion with

Toshiro Sakai is a former tennis player from Japan. Career Sakai, a student of Waseda University, competed in the 1970 Summer Universiade, which was held in Turin, Italy. He and Jun Kamiwazumi won the doubles gold medal for Japan. When the Japanese Davis C ...

and teamed up with the same player to reach the quarter-finals of the

French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...

that year. Hirai didn't turn professional until the late 1970s.

Grand Prix career finals

Doubles: 1 (0–1)

References

External links

* * * 1950 births Living people Japanese male tennis players Sportspeople from Tokyo Universiade medalists in tennis Asian Games gold medalists for Japan Asian Games medalists in tennis Medalists at the 1974 Asian Games Tennis players at the 1974 Asian Games Universiade silver medalists for Japan Universiade bronze medalists for Japan Medalists at the 1973 Summer Universiade 20th-century Japanese people 21st-century Japanese people {{Japan-tennis-bio-stub

Biography

Grand Prix career finals

Doubles: 1 (0–1)

See also

References

External links