Nao Hibino

is a Japanese professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as No. 56 in singles and No. 43 in doubles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Hibino has won two singles and two doubles titles on the WTA Tour. Along with that, she has won eight singles titles and eight doubles titles on the ITF Circuit.

Hibino made her breakthrough in 2015, when she won her first WTA Tour title in singles at the Tashkent Open. As a result, she debuted in the top 100. Since then, she spent all weeks inside top 150 and several years in the top 100. She has represented Japan at national competitions, debuting at the Billie Jean King Cup in 2016 and at the Summer Olympics in 2021.

Personal life and background

Hibino was born on November 28, 1994, in Ichinomiya, Japan. Coming from a tennis-loving family, she is named after former top-20 player Naoko Sawamatsu, while her brother is named after Shuzo Matsuoka. She also has one older sister. At the age of 10, she and her brother were introduced to tennis by their mother.

In 2015, Hibino moved to Kobe, Japan for training. She enjoys spending time with her family because she rarely gets the chance to live with them. When she returns home, she often goes shopping with her sister and takes their dogs for a walk. She also likes reading and often reads in her spare time. Hibino enjoys eating local foods and sightseeing at famous places while travelling on tour. Since a young age, she has dreamt of playing on the Centre Court of Wimbledon.

Junior career

Hibino reached a career-high ranking of No. 54 as a junior. She began playing on the ITF Junior Circuit in January 2009 at the age of 14. The following March, she made her debut at the Grade 1 Japan Open in Nagoya, reaching the second round in both the singles and doubles events. Three weeks later, she won her first junior singles title at the Grade 4 Gallipoli Youth Tennis Cup in Queensland after defeating Ashleigh Barty in the final. There she also won her first doubles title. In October, she played her strongest tournament to date, the Grade A Osaka Mayor's Cup, where she advanced to the second round. She had a better result in doubles, reaching the quarterfinal alongside Mana Ayukawa.

After starting the 2011 season with an early loss at the Grade-1 Loy Yang Traralgon International in Traralgon, she made her Grand Slam debut at the Australian Open. In singles, she reached the second round, while in doubles she lost in the first round alongside Emily Fanning. At her next tournament, the Grade-1 Chang LTAT ITF Junior Championships in Nonthaburi, Hibino achieved her most significant result to date in singles, getting to the semi-finals. Two weeks later, she had her biggest result in doubles as well, winning her first Grade-1 title at the Mitsubishi-Lancer International Championships in Manila. In her two following tournaments, she won two Grade-4 events in Australia in both the singles and doubles, including the one in Queensland where she defended her titles. Her singles performance then started to decline, as she lost in the early rounds at tournaments such as the French Open, Wimbledon, the Canadian Open, the US Open, the Osaka Mayor's Cup, and the Japan Open. However, her doubles performance continued to lead to good results as she reached the semifinals of the Canadian Open and Osaka Mayor's Cup. She closed out the season with a singles quarterfinal and a doubles title at the Grade B1 Seogwipo Asian/Oceania Closed International Championships in Jeju-Do.

The 2012 season was the final junior season for Hibino. She played once again at the Australian Open but again had little success with only a second round appearance in singles and a first round appearance in doubles. Her last tournament was the Grade-1 Mitsubishi-Lancer International Juniors Championships in Manila, where she reached the semi-final in singles and quarterfinal in doubles. As a junior, she won four singles and five doubles titles in total on the ITF Junior Circuit.

Professional career

2012–14: Successful start on the ITF Circuit, WTA Tour debut

Hibino began playing on the ITF Women's Circuit in May 2012 at the age of 17. She played in the qualifying draw of the $25K tournament in Karuizawa in the singles event but failed to reach the main draw. Nonetheless, she made her debut in the doubles event. A month later, she was given a wildcard for the singles main draw of the $10K tournament in Tokyo. She took advantage of the wildcard and won the title in her debut appearance. The following week, she continued with success, winning another $10K title, this time in Mie. This performance put her on the WTA rankings for the first time, getting to No. 974 in singles. In September of the same year, she won her first ITF doubles title at the $10K event in Kyoto along with the title in singles as well. A week later, she debuted in the doubles rankings as well, getting to No. 1066.

After not having such impressive results during the first four months of 2013, she reached her first bigger ITF final at the $50K Kangaroo Cup in Gifu, in the doubles event. Three weeks later, she won her first doubles title of the season at the $25K event in Goyang. Her results improved in singles during the second half of the year. In early September, she won the $25K tournament in Tsukuba after defeating fellow Japanese player Erika Sema