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.
37 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.
3.
In 1994, Ai Sugiyama again reached the main draw at Wimbledon but lost to world No 6 and compatriot, Kimiko Date.
4.
Ai Sugiyama went on to win the Japan Open doubles, her first tour title.
5.
In Miami, seeded 23rd, Ai Sugiyama reached the fourth round, defeating No 10, Jana Novotna, her second top-10 victory.
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.
7.
Ai Sugiyama represented Japan and reached the third round at the Atlanta Olympics defeating Martina Hingis.
8.
Ai Sugiyama began 1997 season by playing her third final losing to Elena Likhovtseva, after defeating Sabine Appelmans in the quarterfinals.
9.
Ai Sugiyama reached the second round at the French Open and Wimbledon.
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.
11.
Ai Sugiyama won a total of eight doubles titles that year, seven with Kim Clijsters and one with Liezel Huber.
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.
13.
Ai Sugiyama reached the final in doubles with Hantuchova, losing to Virginia Ruano-Pascual and Conchita Martinez.
14.
Ai Sugiyama broke her Grand Slam "curse", reaching the third round before losing to Clijsters, the eventual champion.
15.
Ai Sugiyama entered a few tournaments with Anastasia Myskina and Elena Likhovtseva, but with poor results.
16.
At Wimbledon, Hantuchova and Ai Sugiyama reached the quarterfinal, losing to eventual champions Black and Huber.
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.
18.
Ai Sugiyama lost in the semifinal, in an epic match against Nadia Petrova.
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.
20.
Ai Sugiyama reached the final in Los Angeles, bowing to Ruano Pascual and Paola Suarez.
21.
Ai Sugiyama reached the final of a Tier-IV event in Seoul, losing to Eleni Daniilidou of Greece in a three-set final.
22.
Ai Sugiyama lost to Anastasiya Yakimova in the second round of the Australian Open, before beating her in Miami.
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.
24.
Ai Sugiyama lost against the second seeded Sharapova in the third round.
25.
Ai Sugiyama reached two doubles semifinals in San Diego and Stanford with Srebotnik, losing both times to Victoria Azarenka and Chakvetadze.
26.
At the US Open, Ai Sugiyama lost in the second round to Ekaterina Makarova.
27.
Srebotnik and Ai Sugiyama continued their form and thus qualified for the Tour Championships, which were held in Madrid.
28.
In singles, Ai Sugiyama's season started out badly, as she lost to Azarenka in Gold Coast and Gajdosova in Sydney.
29.
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.
30.
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.
31.
Ai Sugiyama broke the record for consecutive slam appearances woman with 57 as of her appearance in the 2008 Wimbledon tournament.
32.
Ai Sugiyama made it to the third round of ladies' singles, losing to Alisa Kleybanova of Russia.
33.
Ai Sugiyama entered the Dubai Tennis Championships and lost in the opening round to Bartoli in a tight three-set match.
34.
Ai Sugiyama lost four consecutive singles matches in Miami, Stuttgart, Rome, and Madrid.
35.
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.
36.
Ai Sugiyama then lost in the second round in Los Angeles to Radwanska.
37.
Ai Sugiyama retired at the end of the 2009 tennis season after the Pan Pacific Open, held in her native country, Japan.