is a Japanese 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. Her highest
WTA rankings
The WTA rankings are the ratings defined by the Women's Tennis Association, introduced in November 1975.
Iga Świątek is the current world No. 1.
Ranking method
The WTA rankings are based on a rolling 52-week, cumulative system. A play ...
are No. 30 in singles and No. 77 in doubles.
Doi reached two junior
Grand Slam
Grand Slam most often refers to:
* Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves
Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to:
Games and sports
* Grand slam, winning category te ...
doubles finals – at
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
in 2007 with
Kurumi Nara
is a Japanese former professional tennis player.
She has won one singles title on the WTA Tour, as well as six singles and three doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. On 18 August 2014, she reached a career-high singles ranking of worl ...
, and at the
Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
in 2008, with
Elena Bogdan (losing both). She has made it to three WTA tournament finals (only winning one). She is managed by Muse Group, a sports marketing agency based in Tokyo.
Junior career
Doi began playing tennis at the age of six. She first distinguished herself in tennis as a middle-school student, reaching the semifinals of the All Japan Middle School Tennis Championships in both 2004 and 2006 and joining the
ITF Junior Circuit
The ITF Junior Circuit is the premier level for worldwide competition among under-18 junior tennis players. Founded in 1977 with only nine tournaments, the 2011 ITF Junior Circuit offered over 350 tournaments in 118 countries. Mirroring the ATP an ...
in 2006. In 2007, while enrolled as a freshman in Sundai Kōei High School, Doi earned second place in the Japan Open Junior Championships in
Nagoya
is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...
.
A highlight of Doi's junior career was her successful doubles partnership with age-mate
Kurumi Nara
is a Japanese former professional tennis player.
She has won one singles title on the WTA Tour, as well as six singles and three doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. On 18 August 2014, she reached a career-high singles ranking of worl ...
. They placed second in girls' doubles at the
2007 Wimbledon Championships, becoming only the second Japanese pair to reach the finals of a
Grand Slam
Grand Slam most often refers to:
* Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves
Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to:
Games and sports
* Grand slam, winning category te ...
juniors event since
Yuka Yoshida
Yuka Kaneko (née Yuka Yoshida, ja, 吉田友佳, born 1 April 1976) is a former professional tennis player from Japan.
In her career, she won three doubles titles on the WTA Tour: 1995 in Tokyo, 1996 in Pattaya, and 2005 in Memphis.
Kanek ...
and
Hiroko Mochizuki
Hiroko Mochizuki (born 23 July 1975) is a Japanese former professional tennis player.
As a junior, Mochizuki was ranked in the world's top 10 and was a runner-up in two junior grand slam doubles finals, at the 1993 Wimbledon and 1993 US Open, b ...
at the
1993 US Open. Doi and Nara continued their run by advancing to the girls' doubles semifinals at a number of high-profile tournaments, such as the
2007 US Open and
Wimbledon 2008
The 2008 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 122nd edition of the Wimbledon Championships and were held fro ...
. Doi also teamed with Romanian
Elena Bogdan to place second in girls' doubles at the
2008 Australian Open
The 2008 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 96th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, from 14 throug ...
. This flurry of successes catapulted Doi to No. 3 in Japan's under-18 tennis rankings for 2007; she had been recognized early on as one of Japan's rising stars in junior tennis.
2008 marked Doi's first participation in
ITF Women's Circuit
The ITF Women's World Tennis Tour, previously known as the ITF Women's Circuit, is a series of professional tennis tournaments run by the International Tennis Federation for female professional tennis players.
History
It serves as a developmental ...
events. She partnered with Kurumi Nara again for the 2008 ITF event in Miyazaki, where they upset top-seeded sisters
Erika and
Yurika Sema
is a former Japanese tennis player. She is the older sister of professional tennis player Erika Sema
Retrieved 3 July ...
, 3–6, 6–3,
0–6in the second round. Doi and Nara went on to triumph over
Kimiko Date-Krumm
is a Japanese former professional tennis player. She reached the semifinals of the 1994 Australian Open, the 1995 French Open and the 1996 Wimbledon Championships, and won the Japan Open a record four times. She reached a career-high ranking ...
and
Tomoko Yonemura
is a Japanese former tennis player.
On 4 May 2009, she achieved her career-high singles ranking of world No. 148. On 11 April 2005, she peaked at No. 144 in the doubles rankings.
Tomoko, the sister of Akiko Yonemura, won seven singles and el ...
in the finals.
Professional career
2006–09: First ITF title and qualifiers on WTA Tour
Doi officially turned pro in June 2006, at the age of 15.
In 2009, she focused primarily on Japanese tournaments, where she earned two first-place and two second-place finishes in singles and one second-place result in doubles. In March 2009, she won her first ITF title at the $10k Kofu event. In October, she made her tour debut in the qualifiers of the
Japan Women's Open
The Japan Women's Open Tennis is a professional women's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. The event is affiliated with the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), and is an International-level tournament on the WTA Tour. As successor to ...
, falling to American
Abigail Spears
Abigail Michal Spears (born July 12, 1981) is a former professional tennis player from the United States.
She was suspended for doping offences from 7 November 2019 until 7 September 2021.
Biography 2000–2011
Spears turned professional in ...
in the second qualifying round. Doi was seeded sixth in the women's singles draw of the All Japan Tennis Championships. She lost in straight sets to
Akiko Morigami in the round of 16. Her performance in 2009's events lifted Doi from a year-opening ranking of No. 613 to a year-end mark of No. 199 and a place among the top 10-players in Japanese tennis.
2010: First Grand Slam qualifying
In 2010, Doi began playing professional tournaments outside Japan. She appeared in the women's singles qualifiers for that year's
Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
. Doi then made appearances at several circuit tournaments, placing second in singles at Irapuato, Mexico in March. In doubles, she recorded three second-place finishes in as many weeks in April tournaments at Incheon, Gimhae, and Changwon, South Korea, with partner
Junri Namigata
is a Japanese professional tennis player. Her career-high WTA singles ranking is 105, which she reached in February 2011. Her career-high doubles ranking is 101, achieved May 2015.
Early life and amateur career
Namigata was born in Koshigaya, ...
. With new partner
Kotomi Takahata, Doi won her first $50k title in doubles at the
Fukuoka International in May, defeating
Marina Erakovic
Marina Erakovic ( ; hr, Marina Eraković ; born 6 March 1988) is a retired tennis player from New Zealand. She achieved career-high rankings of 39 in singles and 25 in doubles, and won one singles title, at Memphis in February 2013, and eigh ...
and
Alexandra Panova
Alexandra Alexandrovna Panova (russian: Александра Александровна Панова; born 2 March 1989) is a Russian professional tennis player.
On 30 July 2012, she achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 71. On 18 ...
in straight sets.
Her success continued in the qualifying rounds 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 ...
, where she defeated
Mandy Minella
Mandy Minella (born 22 November 1985) is a former professional tennis player from Luxembourg. Having made her debut on the WTA Tour in 2001, she peaked at No. 66 in the WTA singles rankings in September 2012, and No. 47 in doubles in April 2013 ...
and upset
Michelle Larcher de Brito
Michelle Larcher de Brito (born 29 January 1993) is a Portuguese former professional tennis player. She is the former Portuguese No. 1.
Larcher de Brito won four singles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit in her career. On 6 July 2009, she rea ...
to reach the qualifier finals. With her victory over
Vitalia Diatchenko
Vitalia Anatolyevna Diatchenko ( rus, Виталия Анатольевна Дьяченко, , vʲɪˈtalʲɪjə dʲjɪˈtɕenkə, Ru-Vitalia_Diatchenko.ogg; born 2 August 1990) is a Russian professional tennis player. Her career-high singles ...
, Doi had earned a spot in her first major tournament main draw, where she lost to
Polona Hercog
Polona Hercog (, born 20 January 1991) is a Slovenian professional tennis player. Her career-high WTA rankings are 35 in singles and 56 in doubles. She has won five titles on the WTA Tour, three in singles and two in doubles. Hercog also enjoye ...
in the first round. She finished the year with a first-place performance in the All Japan Tennis Championships women's singles.
2011: First Grand Slam main-draw win
Doi's Grand Slam results improved in 2011, when she qualified for
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
and had her first win in Grand Slam tournament against
Bethanie Mattek-Sands
Bethanie Mattek-Sands ( Bethanie Lynn Mattek; born March 23, 1985) is an American professional tennis player. She has won nine Grand Slam titles (five in women's doubles and four in mixed doubles), and an Olympic gold medal, and is a former wo ...
. She went on to defeat
Zheng Jie
Zheng Jie (born 5 July 1983) is a retired tennis player from China. In May 2009, she achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 15.
Zheng is one of the most successful tennis players from China. She won four WTA singles titles – Ho ...
before losing in the third round to
Sabine Lisicki
Sabine Katharina Lisicki (; born 22 September 1989) is a German professional tennis player.
Lisicki turned professional in 2006, and her breakthrough came in 2009 when she reached the quarterfinals of the Wimbledon Championships, and also won h ...
.
2012: First WTA Tour quarterfinal
The
Birmingham Classic was Doi's first appearance in the quarterfinals of a singles tour event, which she reached by defeating the top seed
Francesca Schiavone
Francesca Schiavone (; born 23 June 1980) is an Italian former professional tennis player. She turned professional in 1998 and won the 2010 French Open singles title, becoming the first Italian woman to win a Grand Slam event in singles. She wa ...
in two sets. Although Doi lost in the
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
qualifiers to
Kristina Mladenovic
Kristina "Kiki" Mladenovic (; sr, Кристина "Кики" Младеновић, Kristina "Kiki" Mladenović, ; born 14 May 1993) is a French professional tennis player and a former world No. 1 in doubles.
She is a nine-time Grand Slam ch ...
, she received a
lucky loser
A lucky loser is a sports competitor (player or team) who loses a match in a knockout tournament or loses in qualifying, but who then enters the main draw, usually when another competitor withdraws during the tournament because of illness, injury ...
berth in the main tournament. She was defeated by her first-round opponent
Arantxa Rus
Arantxa Rus (; born 13 December 1990) is a Dutch tennis player. In 2008, she won the girl's singles title at the 2008 Australian Open – Girls' singles, Australian Open, defeating Jessica Moore (tennis), Jessica Moore from Australia in the final ...
.
After failing to qualify for the main draws of the
US Open and Pan Pacific Open, Doi found success at the Japan Open, where she defeated
Chanelle Scheepers
Chanelle Scheepers ( ; born 13 March 1984) is a retired South African tennis player.
She won one singles and one doubles title on the WTA Tour, as well as 12 singles and 20 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit in her career. On 10 October ...
in three sets to reach her first tour semifinal.
2013: Main-draw appearance at all major tournaments
2013 marked the first year in which Doi qualified for all four Grand Slam tournaments. In the
Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
, she reached the second round after a two-set victory over
Petra Martić
Petra Martić (; born 19 January 1991) is a Croatian professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 14, achieved in January 2020. Martić has won two singles titles on the WTA Tour, one singles and one doubles tou ...
before losing 0–6, 0–6 to
Maria Sharapova
Maria Yuryevna Sharapova ( , ; rus, Мари́я Ю́рьевна Шара́пова, p=mɐˈrʲijə ʂɐˈrapəvə, a=Maria_sharapova.ogg; born 19 April 1987) is a Russian former List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 ...
. She lost in the first round in the other three Grand Slam events. At 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 ...
she faced
Madison Keys
Madison Keys (born February 17, 1995) is an American professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 7 by the Women's Tennis Association
The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) is the principal organizing body of women's ...
; at
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
Sílvia Soler Espinosa
Sílvia Soler Espinosa (; born 19 November 1987) is a retired Spanish tennis player.
In her career, she has won one doubles title on the WTA Tour, as well as five singles and three doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. On 21 May 2012, she ...
; and at the
US Open Petra Kvitová
Petra Kvitová, OLY ( , ; born 8 March 1990) is a Czech professional tennis player. Known for her powerful left-handed groundstrokes and variety, Kvitová has won 29 career singles titles, including two major titles at Wimbledon in 2011 and i ...
.
2016: Wimbledon 4th round, top 30 debut
At the
Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
, Doi played the seventh seed
Angelique Kerber
Angelique Kerber (; born 18 January 1988) is a German professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 1, for a total of 34 weeks, and won three major titles at the 2016 Australian Open, the 2016 US Open, and the 2018 Wim ...
in the first round, winning the first set and holding a match point in the second-set tie-break before eventually losing in three sets. Kerber went on to win the title. On 16 May, she achieved a new career-high ranking of world No. 38, after her quarterfinal appearance in the
Italian Open.
Doi competed at the
Birmingham Classic, losing to
Johanna Konta
Johanna Konta (born 17 May 1991) is a British former professional tennis player, having represented Australia until 2012. She won four singles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as 11 singles and four doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. The ...
. She then reached the last 16 of
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
, beating
Louisa Chirico
Louisa Chirico (born May 16, 1996) is an American tennis player. She is of Korean descent through her mother.
Chirico, who comes from Harrison, New York, has won five singles and two doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. On 24 October 2016 ...
,
Karolína Plíšková
Karolína Hrdličková ( née Plíšková; ; born 21 March 1992) is a Czech professional tennis player. She is a former world No. 1 in singles, reaching the top of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) rankings on 17 July 2017 and holding the pos ...
and
Anna-Lena Friedsam
Anna-Lena Friedsam (born 1 February 1994) is a German tennis player.
She has won three doubles titles on the WTA Tour, one WTA 125 singles title as well as 12 singles and three doubles titles on the ITF Circuit in her career. She played also ...
before losing to Kerber, in straight sets. Doi was the first Japanese player to reach the fourth round of the ladies draw since
Ai Sugiyama
is a Japanese former tennis player. She reached the world No. 1 ranking in women's doubles on the WTA Tour and had a career-high singles ranking of world No. 8, achieved on February 9, 2004. In her career, she won six singles and 38 doubles t ...
ten years earlier.
She made her top 30 debut on 10 October 2016.
Personal
Doi is coached by Christian Zahalka since April 2015. Her most admired players are
Justine Henin
Justine Henin (; born 1 June 1982) is a Belgian former professional tennis player. She spent a total of 117 weeks as the world No. 1 and was the year-end No. 1 in 2003, 2006 and 2007. Henin, coming from a country with limited success in te ...
and
Shingo Kunieda
is a Japanese wheelchair tennis player. He is the current world No. 1 in singles. With four Paralympic gold medals, 28 major singles titles – an all-time record in singles of any tennis discipline – and 50 major titles overall, Kunieda is ...
. She uses a
Srixon
Srixon is a sports equipment brand owned by SRI Sports, SRI Sports Limited, a subsidiary of Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd., also owner of Dunlop Sport. Srixon focuses on golf, with its golf ball, balls holding the larg ...
racquet and
ASICS shoes, prefers to play on
hardcourt
A hardcourt (or hard court) is a surface or floor on which a sport is played, most usually in reference to tennis courts. It is typically made of rigid materials such as asphalt or concrete, and covered with acrylic resins to seal the surface and ...
s, and favors her
forehand and
serve.
Performance timelines
''Only main-draw results in WTA Tour, Grand Slam tournaments, Fed Cup/Billie Jean King Cup and Olympic Games are included in win–loss records.
''
Singles
''Current through the
2022 Toray Pan Pacific Open.''
Doubles
WTA career finals
Singles: 3 (1 title, 2 runner-ups)
Doubles: 3 (2 titles, 1 runner-up)
WTA Challenger finals
Singles: 4 (2 titles, 2 runner-ups)
Doubles: 5 (4 titles, 1 runner-up)
ITF Circuit finals
Singles: 10 (7 titles, 3 runner–ups)
Doubles: 14 (6 titles, 8 runner–ups)
Wins over top 10-players
Notes
References
External links
Misaki Doi official website
*
*
*
Japan Tennis Association profile(in Japanese)
Misaki Doi's personal blog(in Japanese)
MIsaki Doi's official Facebook(in Japanese)
Misaki Doi's Twitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Doi, Misaki
1991 births
Living people
Japanese female tennis players
People from Ōamishirasato
Sportspeople from Yokohama
Sportspeople from Chiba Prefecture
Sportspeople from Kanagawa Prefecture
Asian Games medalists in tennis
Tennis players at the 2010 Asian Games
Olympic tennis players of Japan
Tennis players at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Tennis players at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games
Asian Games bronze medalists for Japan
20th-century Japanese women
21st-century Japanese women