Jump to content

Yuuki Tanaka

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Yuuki Tanaka
Native name田中 優季
Country (sports) Japan
Born (1990-03-07) 7 March 1990 (age 34)
Chita, Japan
Height1.60 m (5 ft 3 in)
Retired2019
PlaysLeft-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money$97,578
Singles
Career record246–211
Career titles1 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 308 (11 September 2017)
Doubles
Career record130–119
Career titles6 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 214 (29 August 2016)

Yuuki Tanaka (Japanese: 田中 優季, Hepburn: Tanaka Yūki, born 7 March 1990) is a Japanese former tennis player.[1]

On 11 September 2017, Tanaka reached her best singles ranking of world No. 308. On 29 August 2016, she peaked at No. 214 in the doubles rankings. In her career, Tanaka won one singles title and six doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit.

She made her main-draw debut on the WTA Tour at the 2016 Jiangxi International Open, in the doubles event, partnering Tian Ran. Her biggest ITF tournament was the $75k 2015 Dunlop World Challenge doubles final, which she lost partnering with Luksika Kumkhum.[2]

Early life and amateur career

[edit]

Tanaka was born in Chita, Aichi Prefecture and attended Yawata Elementary School and Yawata Junior High School in Chita and Sugiyama Jogakuen High School in Nagoya. She participated in her first ITF tournament at the age of 16 in July 2006, advancing through three rounds of qualifying at the $25k event in Nagoya before losing in the round of 32.[3]

After high school, she attended Waseda University in Tokyo and graduated with a degree in sports science.[1][4]

Tanaka commenced playing tennis at nine years of age. In September 2010, she ended runner-up in the women's singles event of the All-Japan Inter-Collegiate Tennis Tournament, losing to fellow Waseda student Hiroko Kuwata in the final.[4] She also finished runner-up in the doubles event, partnering Waseda classmate Shiho Otake and losing to fellow Waseda students Emiko Ito and Mai Iwazaki in the final.[4] In October 2010, she led the Waseda women's team to their fifth consecutive All-Japan Collegiate Tennis Championships title and was named MVP of the tournament.[4] In December 2010, she partnered with Otake to win the national inter-collegiate indoor tournament in Osaka.[4]

In March 2011, Tanaka advanced to an ITF final for the first time, partnering with Chinami Ogi and losing to Mari Inoue and Ayumi Oka in the final of the Miyazaki outdoor carpet tournament. She also advanced to the quarterfinals in the singles draw of the same tournament.[5]

At the 2011 Inter-Collegiate Championship, Tanaka and Otake faced Ito and Iwazake again, defeating them in the final of the women's doubles. Tanaka finished fourth in the singles competition.[6]

Professional career

[edit]

Tanaka turned professional in February 2012, just prior to her graduation from Waseda. Her coach has been Atsushi Okutaka since April 2012.[1] In June 2012, she won her first ITF title, partnering with her former Waseda teammate Kuwata to win the $10k Mie outdoor tournament, defeating Akari Inoue and Kaori Onishi in the final.[7]

In March 2013, Tanaka won her first ITF singles title, defeating Kuwata in the final of the $10k Kōfu hardcourt tournament.[8] In the same month, Tanaka and Kuwata were named as part of Japan's five-member women's tennis team for the 2013 Summer Universiade in Kazan, Russia.[9]

In July 2013, Japan won the gold medal in the women's team event at the Summer Universiade.[10] In the main draw of the women's singles, Tanaka's teammates Sachie Ishizu and Kuwata won gold and bronze respectively.[10] Tanaka was the top seed in the consolation draw of the women's singles and won the final against the fourth member of the Japanese team, Megumi Nishimoto.[11] Tanaka and Ishizu were seeded fifth in the women's doubles event and lost in the quarterfinals.[12]

In November 2015, Tanaka advanced to the second round of the Ando Securities Open, losing to eventual runner-up, top seed Nao Hibino.[13] Later the same month, Tanaka and her partner Luksika Kumkhum advanced to the final of the doubles draw of the Dunlop World Challenge, losing in a match tie-break to Akiko Omae and Peangtarn Plipuech.[14]

In the first half of 2016, Tanaka partnered Mana Ayukawa in the finals of two ITF tournaments in Mildura and Karuizawa, but the pair lost in two sets on both occasions.[15] In August, Tanaka's doubles ranking had improved to her career-best No. 216[16] and she made her WTA Tour main-draw debut at the Jiangxi International Open, partnering Tian Ran in the doubles event. The pair lost to top seeds Wang Yafan and Yang Zhaoxuan in round one.[17]

ITF finals

[edit]

Singles (1–6)

[edit]
Legend
$25,000 tournaments
$15,000 tournaments
$10,000 tournaments
Finals by surface
Hard (1–4)
Clay (0–1)
Carpet (0–1)
Result No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Loss 1 13 August 2012 ITF İstanbul, Turkey Hard Japan Mari Tanaka 0–6, 2–6
Loss 2 15 September 2012 ITF Kyoto, Japan Carpet (i) Japan Nao Hibino 4–6, 6–2, 2–6
Win 1 23 March 2013 Kōfu International Open, Japan Hard Japan Hiroko Kuwata 6–3, 6–1
Loss 3 24 February 2014 ITF Nonthaburi, Thailand Hard China Xun Fangying 6–7(2), 2–6
Loss 4 1 February 2015 ITF Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt Hard Latvia Anastasija Sevastova 5–7, 3–6
Loss 5 7 February 2015 ITF Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt Hard Austria Melanie Klaffner 5–7, 6–3, 2–6
Loss 6 30 April 2017 ITF Antalya, Turkey Clay Belgium Ysaline Bonaventure 4–6, 2–6

Doubles (6–10)

[edit]
Legend
$75,000 tournaments
$25,000 tournaments
$15,000 tournaments
$10,000 tournaments
Finals by surface
Hard (2–5)
Clay (2–1)
Grass (2–2)
Carpet (0–2)
Result No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 1 20 March 2011 ITF Miyazaki, Japan Carpet Japan Chinami Ogi Japan Mari Inoue
Japan Ayumi Oka
7–5, 2–6, [8–10]
Win 1 24 June 2012 ITF Mie, Japan Grass Japan Hiroko Kuwata Japan Akari Inoue
Japan Kaori Onishi
6–3, 3–6, [10–5]
Loss 2 23 December 2014 ITF İstanbul, Turkey Hard (i) Russia Ekaterina Yashina Belgium Elise Mertens
Turkey İpek Soylu
0–6, 6–7(3)
Loss 3 24 February 2014 ITF Nonthaburi, Thailand Hard Japan Miyu Kato Thailand Nungnadda Wannasuk
Thailand Varunya Wongteanchai
2–6, 2–6
Loss 4 13 April 2014 ITF Melbourne, Australia Clay Japan Miyu Kato Australia Jessica Moore
Bulgaria Aleksandrina Naydenova
5–7, 7–6(5), [7–10]
Loss 5 9 June 2014 ITF Kashiwa, Japan Hard Japan Makoto Ninomiya United States Yuki Chiang
Japan Aki Yamasoto
7–5, 1–6, [5–10]
Win 2 7 July 2014 ITF Aschaffenburg, Germany Clay Japan Rika Fujiwara Netherlands Lesley Kerkhove
Switzerland Xenia Knoll
6–1, 6–4
Loss 6 12 January 2015 ITF Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt Hard Italy Camilla Rosatello Austria Pia König
Netherlands Eva Wacanno
6–4, 6–7(2), [5–10]
Win 3 19 January 2015 ITF Sharm El Sheikh Hard Japan Shiho Akita Sweden Kajsa Rinaldo Persson
Norway Caroline Rohde-Moe
6–2, 7–6(3)
Win 4 7 February 2015 ITF Sharm El Sheikh Hard Russia Anna Morgina Ukraine Veronika Kapshay
Austria Melanie Klaffner
4–6, 6–4, [10–6]
Win 5 15 March 2015 ITF Mildura, Australia Grass Japan Hiroko Kuwata China Tian Ran
China Wang Yan
6–2, 6–0
Loss 7 25 September 2015 ITF Bangkok, Thailand Hard Japan Mana Ayukawa Japan Hiroko Kuwata
Japan Ayaka Okuno
6–2, 1–6, [6–10]
Loss 8 28 November 2015 Toyota World Challenge, Japan Carpet (i) Thailand Luksika Kumkhum Japan Akiko Omae
Thailand Peangtarn Plipuech
6–3, 0–6, [9–11]
Loss 9 4 March 2016 ITF Mildura, Australia Grass Japan Mana Ayukawa Australia Olivia Tjandramulia
United States Jessica Wacnik
0–6, 3–6
Loss 10 28 May 2016 ITF Karuizawa, Japan Grass Japan Mana Ayukawa Japan Rika Fujiwara
Japan Kotomi Takahata
1–6, 4–6
Win 6 23 April 2017 ITF Antalya, Turkey Clay Finland Emma Laine Belgium Marie Benoît
Belgium Ysaline Bonaventure
3–6, 6–1, [10–4]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c "田中 優季" [Yuuki Tanaka] (in Japanese). Japan Tennis Association. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
  2. ^ "$75,000+H Toyota". International Tennis Federation. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  3. ^ "ITF Tennis – Pro Circuit – $25,000 Nagoya – 03 July – 09 July 2006". Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  4. ^ a b c d e "早稲田ウィークリー" [Waseda Weekly]. 13 January 2011. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  5. ^ "ITF Tennis – Pro Circuit – $10,000 Miyazaki – 14 March – 20 March 2011". Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  6. ^ "早稲田ウィークリー" [Waseda Weekly]. 27 October 2011. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  7. ^ "ITF Tennis – Pro Circuit – $10,000 Mie – 18 June – 24 June 2012". Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  8. ^ "ITF Tennis – Pro Circuit – $10,000 Kofu – 18 March – 24 March 2013". Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  9. ^ "ユニバーシアードの日本代表選手が決定" [Japan Universiade Teams Announced] (in Japanese). 8 March 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  10. ^ a b "[カザンユニバーシアード] 女子団体で金、日本はメダル4個獲得" [(Kazan Universiade) Women's team wins gold, Japan claims four individual medals] (in Japanese). 17 July 2013. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  11. ^ "[カザンユニバーシアード] 石津幸恵が決勝進出、桑田寛子は銅メダル" [(Kazan Universiade) Megumi Ishizu adavances to final, Hiroko Kuwata claims bronze model] (in Japanese). 15 July 2013. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  12. ^ "[カザンユニバーシアード] テニス競技5日目 日本選手結果" [(Kazan Universiade) Tennis competition day 5, Japanese athletes' results] (in Japanese). 12 July 2013. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  13. ^ "ITF Tennis – Pro Circuit – $100,000 Tokyo – 16 November – 22 November 2015". Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  14. ^ "ITF Tennis – Pro Circuit – $75,000+H Toyota – 23 November – 29 November 2015". Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  15. ^ "Yuuki Tanaka Results". Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  16. ^ "Yuuki Tanaka Rankings Overview". Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  17. ^ "Jiangxi Open Main Doubles Draw" (PDF). Retrieved 2 August 2016.
[edit]