Shinobu Asagoe (浅越しのぶ)

Country	Japan
Residence	Hyōgo, Japan
Date of birth	June 28, 1976 (1976-06-28) (age 33)
Place of birth	Hyōgo, Japan
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Weight	58 kg (130 lb; 9.1 st)
Turned pro	1997
Retired	2006
Plays	Right
Career prize money	US$1,662,261
Singles
Career record	106–129
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	No. 21 (April 18, 2005)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open	2nd (2005, 2006)
French Open	4th (2004)
Wimbledon	4th (2003)
US Open	QF (2004)
Doubles
Career record	133–104
Career titles	8
Highest ranking	No. 13 (May 8, 2006)
Last updated on: July 4, 2007.

Shinobu Asagoe (Japanese: 浅越しのぶ, born June 28, 1976 in Hyōgo) was a Japanese female professional tennis player. She turned professional in 1997.

[edit] Career

2000 was the first year in which she finished in the WTA top 100 (no. 72). In the US Open that year, she defeated Patty Schnyder, a top 50 player. She also reached her first WTA tour quarterfinal that year at the Princess Cup at Tokyo defeating Ai Sugiyama and losing to Monica Seles. She also represented Japan at the Sydney Olympics. In 2003, she reached her first WTA tour singles final. In 2004, she reached her second career singles final in Hobart, as well as her first Grand Slam quarterfinal at the US Open. On April 18, 2005, Asagoe reached her career-high singles ranking: 21st. In June, she reached her career high doubles ranking (18th).

Asagoe appeared in one WTA Tour final in Auckland 2003 where she lost to Katarina Srebotnik 5–7, 7–5, 6–4. Asagoe held a 4–0 lead in the second when Srebotnik took an injury timeout. It was seen as a ploy to disturb Asagoe's rhythm and it worked.

Asagoe's most memorable match was a second-round marathon at Wimbledon 2003, when her stressed-out opponent, Daniela Hantuchová, melted down well on the way to what looked like a routine two-set win. Eventually, after nearly three hours, Asagoe won the contest 12–10 in the third set.

Plays doubles with Katarina Srebotnik; at Australian Open 2006, reached the semifinal, beating (2) Cara Black/Rennae Stubbs 6–3 4–6 6–0. They lost to eventual champions Yan/Zheng in the semifinals. It was a sad day in Asagoe's fans lives as they expected her to grace the title.

At the US Open that same year, she lost her first round match in straight sets to Jelena Kostanić. She had announced the US Open would be her last tournament. In doubles, with Akiko Morigami, they won their first round match 6–1 6–3, and they were to play against the 14th seeds, Bartoli/Peer. Bartoli/Peer were up 6–4 5–2, before Shinobu and Akiko won four straight games to make it 6–5. They held many set points at 6–5, but could not convert, thus forcing a tiebreaker. In the tiebreaker, they were down 6–2, but somehow managed to win six straight points, thus taking the tiebreaker, saving four straight match points. They took the final set 6–4.

[edit] Retirement

Asagoe retired at the 2006 US Open after losing her third round doubles match (with Morigami) to the world's top-ranked team, Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur.

[edit] External links

• Shinobu Asagoe profile on the WTA Tour's official website