- Saori Obata
Infobox Tennis player
playername = Saori Obata
nickname = Saochin
country = JPN
residence =Tokyo , Japan
datebirth = birth date and age|1978|04|23
placebirth =Tokyo , Japan
height = height|m=1.65
weight = convert|60|kg|lb|abbr=on
turnedpro = April, 1996
retired = June, 2006
plays = Left handed-handed (two-handed backhand)
careerprizemoney = $652,031
singlesrecord = 281–222
singlestitles = 0 WTA, 5 ITF
highestsinglesranking = No. 39 (February 9 ,2004 )
AustralianOpenresult = 3r (2004)
FrenchOpenresult = 1r (2002,2003,2004)
Wimbledonresult = 2r (2002, 2004)
USOpenresult = 3r (2003)
doublesrecord = 118–102
doublestitles = 1 WTA, 2 ITF
highestdoublesranking = No. 98 (February 9 ,2004 )
updated =June 10 ,2007 Saori Obata (born April 23 1978 in
Tokyo ,Japan ) is a female former Japanese tennis player. She turned professional in April 1996, and in February 9th 2004, she achieved her career-high singles ranking of 39, and on the same day she reached her career-high doubles ranking of 98.She did not win a WTA singles title in her career, however did reach 1 singles final in
Tashkent ,Uzbekistan in 2003 where she lost 6–2, 7–6(2) to the Spanish playerVirginia Ruano-Pascual . In the same year she reached the semi-final of the WTA event inBali ,Indonesia before losing toChanda Rubin . She achieved a notable scalp in the opening round of the Eastbourne grass event in 2003, when she defeatedJelena Dokić 6–3 6–1 when Dokić was ranked 11 in the world. She also defeatedAi Sugiyama in the second round of theAustralian Open in 2004 when ranked number 55, this was her only win over a top 10 player as Sugiyama was ranked number 9 at the time.She has won a doubles title at WTA level (Memphis 2003, with
Akiko Morigami ), and has five ITF level singles titles. She retired from professional tennis in early 2006 because of injury. Her final Grand Slam appearance was at the 2006 Australian Open where she lost in the opening round, having qualified, toDaniela Hantuchová in three sets.ingles (5)
External links
*wta|id=150103
*ITF female profile|number=20005059
*FedCupplayerlink|id=20005059
* [http://www.saori-obata.moonfruit.com Saori Obata Web - Unofficial Site]
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