Ai Sugiyama 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.
| FactSnippet No. 1,948,297 |
36 Facts About Ai Sugiyama
2.
In 1993, at age 17, Ai Sugiyama played tennis legend Martina Navratilova in her native city, losing in three sets.
| FactSnippet No. 1,948,298 |
3.
In 1994, Ai Sugiyama again reached the main draw at Wimbledon but lost to world No 6 and compatriot, Kimiko Date.
| FactSnippet No. 1,948,299 |
4.
Ai Sugiyama went on to win the Japan Open doubles, her first tour title.
| FactSnippet No. 1,948,300 |
5.
In Miami, seeded 23rd, Ai Sugiyama reached the fourth round, defeating No 10, Jana Novotna, her second top-10 victory.
| FactSnippet No. 1,948,301 |
6.
Ai Sugiyama reached the semifinals of the Japan Open in Tokyo and the fourth round at Wimbledon, where she defeated No 5, Anke Huber, her third top-10 and first top-5 victory.
| FactSnippet No. 1,948,302 |
7.
Ai Sugiyama represented Japan and reached the third round at the Atlanta Olympics defeating Martina Hingis.
| FactSnippet No. 1,948,303 |
8.
Ai Sugiyama began 1997 season by playing her third final losing to Elena Likhovtseva, after defeating Sabine Appelmans in the quarterfinals.
| FactSnippet No. 1,948,304 |
9.
Ai Sugiyama reached the second round at the French Open and Wimbledon.
| FactSnippet No. 1,948,305 |
10.
Ai Sugiyama finished the year ranked tenth, having defeated world No 1, Justine Henin, in the round robin section of the season-ending championships.
| FactSnippet No. 1,948,306 |
11.
Ai Sugiyama won a total of eight doubles titles that year, seven with Kim Clijsters and one with Liezel Huber.
| FactSnippet No. 1,948,307 |
12.
Ai Sugiyama lost in the first rounds of the first three Grand Slams; only at San Diego did she really do well, making it to the final, which she lost in straight sets to Mary Pierce, having defeated Daniela Hantuchova, Sesil Karantacheva and Svetlana Kuznetsova en route.
| FactSnippet No. 1,948,308 |
13.
Ai Sugiyama reached the final in doubles with Hantuchova, losing to Virginia Ruano-Pascual and Conchita Martinez.
| FactSnippet No. 1,948,309 |
14.
Ai Sugiyama broke her Grand Slam "curse", reaching the third round before losing to Clijsters, the eventual champion.
| FactSnippet No. 1,948,310 |
15.
Ai Sugiyama entered a few tournaments with Anastasia Myskina and Elena Likhovtseva, but with poor results.
| FactSnippet No. 1,948,311 |
16.
At Wimbledon, Hantuchova and Ai Sugiyama reached the quarterfinal, losing to eventual champions Black and Huber.
| FactSnippet No. 1,948,312 |
17.
Ai Sugiyama tried three partners in the next tournaments, before returning to Daniela in Zurich, where they reached the finals, losing a close three-set match to Black and Rennae Stubbs.
| FactSnippet No. 1,948,313 |
18.
Ai Sugiyama lost in the semifinal, in an epic match against Nadia Petrova.
| FactSnippet No. 1,948,314 |
19.
Ai Sugiyama won the doubles title with Hantuchova, defeating Yan and Zheng in the semifinal and Li Ting and Sun Tiantian in the final.
| FactSnippet No. 1,948,315 |
20.
Ai Sugiyama reached the final in Los Angeles, bowing to Ruano Pascual and Paola Suarez.
| FactSnippet No. 1,948,316 |
21.
Ai Sugiyama reached the final of a Tier-IV event in Seoul, losing to Eleni Daniilidou of Greece in a three-set final.
| FactSnippet No. 1,948,317 |
22.
Ai Sugiyama lost to Anastasiya Yakimova in the second round of the Australian Open, before beating her in Miami.
| FactSnippet No. 1,948,318 |
23.
Ai Sugiyama defeated Eva Birnerova in the first round and Meilen Tu in the second round, but then fell to Anna Chakvetadze, the 9th seed.
| FactSnippet No. 1,948,319 |
24.
Ai Sugiyama lost against the second seeded Sharapova in the third round.
| FactSnippet No. 1,948,320 |
25.
Ai Sugiyama reached two doubles semifinals in San Diego and Stanford with Srebotnik, losing both times to Victoria Azarenka and Chakvetadze.
| FactSnippet No. 1,948,321 |
26.
Srebotnik and Ai Sugiyama continued their form and thus qualified for the Tour Championships, which were held in Madrid.
| FactSnippet No. 1,948,322 |
28.
Ai Sugiyama came back after losing a match point in the second set, as well as having served for the match twice in the second set.
| FactSnippet No. 1,948,324 |
29.
Ai Sugiyama won her ninth Tier I doubles title with Srebotnik at Charleston at the Family Circle cup, their third team title, scoring a two-sets win over Edina Gallovits-Hall and Olga Govortsova.
| FactSnippet No. 1,948,325 |
30.
Ai Sugiyama broke the record for consecutive slam appearances woman with 57 as of her appearance in the 2008 Wimbledon tournament.
| FactSnippet No. 1,948,326 |
31.
Ai Sugiyama made it to the third round of ladies' singles, losing to Alisa Kleybanova of Russia.
| FactSnippet No. 1,948,327 |
34.
However alongside Hantuchova, Ai Sugiyama made the finals at the Rome Masters where they lost to the No 7 seeds, Hsieh Su-wei and Peng.
| FactSnippet No. 1,948,330 |
35.
Ai Sugiyama then lost in the second round in Los Angeles to Radwanska.
| FactSnippet No. 1,948,331 |