Shuzo Matsuoka

Shuzo Matsuoka (松岡 修造, Matsuoka Shūzō, born 6 November 1967) is a retired Japanese professional tennis player. A former Wimbledon quarter-finalist, Matsuoka won one singles title during his career, in Seoul in 1992. In the same year, he reached a career-high ranking of world No. 46.

Shuzo Matsuoka
Country (sports) Japan
ResidenceTokyo, Japan
Born (1967-11-06) 6 November 1967
Tokyo, Japan
Height1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Turned pro1986
Retired1998
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money$1,117,112
Official websitehttp://www.shuzo.co.jp/
Singles
Career record145–163
Career titles1
Highest rankingNo. 46 (6 July 1992)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open2R (1989)
French Open2R (1992, 1993)
WimbledonQF (1995)
US Open2R (1988, 1990, 1993)
Doubles
Career record28–44
Career titles1
Highest rankingNo. 95 (16 January 1989)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open1R (1989)
US Open1R (1988)

Professional career

Matsuoka turned professional in 1986. In 1989, he finished runner-up in the top-level tournament at Wellington, and captured the doubles title in Auckland. 1991 saw Matsuoka achieve his career-best Masters result, when he reached the quarter-finals of the 1991 Canada Masters in Montreal, beating Michael Chang in a dramatic 3-set battle en route.

In 1992, Matsuoka became the first Japanese player to win a singles event on the ATP Tour when he captured the title in Seoul. He was also runner-up at the prestigious grass court tournament at Queen's Club that year.

Matsuoka's best performance at a Grand Slam event came at Wimbledon in 1995, where he reached the quarter-finals, beating Karel Nováček, Mark Knowles, Javier Frana and Michael Joyce before being knocked down by Pete Sampras. Matsuoka won the first set but Sampras came back to win in four sets.

At the US Open in 1995, Matsuoka was left writhing in pain on the court after succumbing to cramps during his first round match against Petr Korda. The rules at the time meant that Matsuoka would have forfeited the match if he had gotten medical attention, so he was left to suffer until he was defaulted for delaying the match. The incident led to a change in the rules of professional tennis to allow players to receive medical treatment during matches.[1]

Matsuoka's career-high rankings were world No. 46 in singles (in 1992) and World No. 95 in doubles (in 1989). His career prize-money earnings totalled $1,117,112. He retired from the professional tour in April 1998.

Post retirement

Since his retirement from tennis Matsuoka has become a popular television sports commentator in Japan. He hosts the "Shuzo Challenge", an annual tennis camp for young children by the JTA. Kei Nishikori, former World No. 4 and Japanese No. 1, attended the camp when he was 12 years old.

Known for his passionate and energetic character, Matsuoka has also appeared in numerous variety programs, as well as in a cameo role for a television drama series. In 2008 Matsuoka was featured in ten television commercials, tying him with Takuya Kimura for the celebrity to be featured in the greatest number of Japanese television commercials that year.

Personal life

Matsuoka married former TV Tokyo announcer Emiko Taguchi in 1998, and has three children. His father, Isao Matsuoka, is chairman of Toho Co., Ltd., the Japanese film studio known for its Godzilla movies as well as numerous Akira Kurosawa films.

Career finals

Singles (1 win, 2 losses)
Legend (Singles)
Grand Slam (0)
Tennis Masters Cup (0)
ATP Masters Series (0)
ATP Tour (1)
Result W/L Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 Jan 1989 Wellington, New Zealand Hard Kelly Evernden 5–7, 6–1, 4–6
Win 1–1 Apr 1992 Seoul, Korea Hard Todd Woodbridge 6–3, 4–6, 7–5
Loss 1–2 Jun 1992 London, UK Grass Wayne Ferreira 3–6, 4–6

Doubles (1 win, 1 loss)
Result W/L Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 Jan 1989 Auckland, New Zealand Hard Steve Guy John Letts
Bruce Man-Son-Hing		 7–6, 7–6
Loss 1–1 Jan 1995 Jakarta, Indonesia Hard Ronald Agénor David Adams
Andrei Olhovskiy		 2–6, 4–6

Filmography
gollark: Yes, yes, I know, it isn't ideal.
gollark: They're mostly designed for computer vision but you can run kit neural networks™ on them with hacks.
gollark: Yes, we run the "kit"/"aouwt" neural networks on these.
gollark: How do you have an "atomic" function?
gollark: What?

References
  1. Robin Finn (29 August 1995). "U.S. Open '95; Matsuoka crumples in pain and defaults". The New York Times.
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