Saori Obata

Saori Obata (Japanese: 小畑沙織, Obata Saori, born 23 April 1978) is a retired female tennis player from Japan.[1] She turned professional in April 1996, and in February 2004, she achieved her career-high singles ranking of 39, and on the same day she reached her career-high doubles ranking of 98.

Saori Obata
小畑沙織

Country (sports)	Japan
Residence	Tokyo
Born	(1978-04-23) 23 April 1978 Sapporo
Height	1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Turned pro	April 1996
Retired	June 2006
Plays	Left-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	$652,031
Singles
Career record	281–222
Career titles	0 WTA, 6 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 39 (9 February 2004)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	3R (2004)
French Open	1R (2002, 2003, 2004)
Wimbledon	2R (2002, 2004)
US Open	3R (2003)
Doubles
Career record	118–102
Career titles	1 WTA, 2 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 98 (9 February 2004)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	2R (2004)
Wimbledon	1R (2003, 2005)
US Open	1R (2003)

Biography

She did not win a singles title on WTA Tour in her career, however did reach one singles final in Tashkent in 2003 where she lost in two sets to Virginia Ruano-Pascual. In the same year, she reached the semifinals of the WTA event in Bali, Indonesia, before losing to Chanda Rubin. She achieved a notable scalp in the opening round of the Eastbourne grass-event in 2003, when she defeated Jelena Dokić in straight sets when Dokić was ranked 11th in the world. She also defeated Ai Sugiyama in the second round of the Australian Open in 2004 when ranked No. 55, this was her only win over a top-ten player as Sugiyama was ranked No. 9 at the time.

She won a doubles title at WTA-level (Memphis 2003, with Akiko Morigami), and five ITF-level singles titles. Her final Grand Slam appearance was at the 2006 Australian Open where she lost in the opening round, having qualified, to Daniela Hantuchová in three sets. She retired from professional tennis in June 2006 because of injury.

WTA career finals

Singles (0-1)

Outcome	No.	Date	Location	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	1.	12 October 2003	Tashkent, Uzbekistan	Hard	Virginia Ruano Pascual	2–6, 6–7^(2)

Doubles (1-0)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponent	Score
Winner	1.	16 February 2003	Memphis, United States	Hard (i)	Akiko Morigami	Alina Jidkova Bryanne Stewart	6–1, 6–1

ITF Finals

Singles (6-4)

Outcome	No.	Date	Location	Surface	Opponent	Score
Winner	1.	7 April 1996	Jakarta, Indonesia	Hard	Choi Young-ja	6–2, 6–2
Runner-up	2.	25 June 2000	Mont-de-Marsan, France	Clay	Edith Nunes	2–6, 4–6
Runner-up	3.	13 May 2001	Fukuoka, Japan	Grass	Alicia Molik	5-7, 3-6
Winner	4.	18 November 2001	Port Pirie, Australia	Hard	Pavlina Nola	6–1, 6–2
Winner	5.	25 November 2001	Nuriootpa, Australia	Hard	Cho Yoon-jeong	6–4, 6–1
Runner-up	6.	23 July 2002	Louisville, United States	Hard	Alina Jidkova	3-6, 4-6
Runner-up	7.	5 May 2003	Gifu, Japan	Hard	Shinobu Asagoe	4-6, 1-6
Winner	8.	11 May 2003	Fukuoka, Japan	Clay	Maria Elena Camerin	2–6, 6–3, 6–3
Winner	9.	3 April 2005	Augusta, United States	Hard	Victoria Azarenka	6–2, 6–2
Winner	10.	8 May 2005	Gifu, Japan	Hard	Shiho Hisamatsu	6–1, 2–6, 6–4

Doubles (12–5)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner-up	1.	8 January 1996	San Antonio, United States	Hard	Nami Urabe	Pam Nelson Nóra Köves	6–2, 4–6, 1–6
Winner	2.	25 March 1996	Bandung, Indonesia	Hard	Nami Urabe	Chen Jingjing Li Li	6–3, 6–3
Winner	3.	4 May 1997	Gifu, Japan	Hard	Kaoru Shibata	Shinobu Asagoe Yasuko Nishimata	6-3, 7-5
Runner-up	4.	30 June 1997	Mont-de-Marsan, France	Hard	Nami Urabe	Katalin Marosi Veronica Stele	4–6, 3–6
Winner	5.	10 October 1997	Saga, Japan	Grass	Danielle Jones	Surina De Beer Nami Urabe	6–3, 6–4
Runner-up	6.	16 March 1998	Noda, Japan	Hard	Kyōko Nagatsuka	Keiko Ishida Keiko Nagatomi	6–3, 2–6, 3–6
Winner	7.	8 June 1998	Sochi, Russia	Hard	Kaoru Shibata	Nino Louarsabishvili Elena Tatarkova	3–6, 6–4, 6–2
Winner	8.	14 May 2000	Seoul, South Korea	Clay	Shinobu Asagoe	Li Na Li Ting	6–1, 6–3
Winner	9.	28 May 2000	Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam	Hard	Cho Yoon-jeong	Li Na Li Ting	6–1, 6–2
Winner	10.	4 June 2000	Shenzhen, China	Hard	Kim Eun-ha	Li Na Li Ting	6–1, 6–3
Winner	11.	26 May 2002	Tallinn, Estonia	Clay	Akiko Morigami	Teryn Ashley Kristen Schlukebir	7-5, 7–6^(2)
Winner	12.	27 April 2003	Gifu, Japan	Grass	Rika Fujiwara	Shinobu Asagoe Nana Smith	1–6, 7–5, 6–3
Runner-up	13.	6 May 2003	Fukuoka, Japan	Clay	Rika Fujiwara	Līga Dekmeijere Nana Smith	2–6, 6–2, 4–6
Winner	14.	9 May 2004	Fukuoka, Japan	Carpet	Rika Fujiwara	Monique Adamczak Nicole Kriz	6–2, 6–4
Runner-up	15.	3 April 2005	Augusta, United States	Hard	Rika Fujiwara	Anastasia Rodionova Tatiana Poutchek	6–7^(3), 0–6
Winner	16.	8 May 2005	Gifu, Japan	Carpet	Rika Fujiwara	Ryōko Fuda Seiko Okamoto	6–1, 6–2
Winner	17.	31 May 2005	Surbiton, England	Grass	Rika Fujiwara	Jennifer Hopkins Mashona Washington	4–6, 6–4, 6–2

References

1. Saori Obata Web - Unofficial Site

External links

• Saori Obata at the Women's Tennis Association
• Saori Obata at the International Tennis Federation
• Saori Obata at the Fed Cup