Get Shuko Aoyama essential facts below. View Videos or join the Shuko Aoyama discussion. Add Shuko Aoyama to your PopFlock.com topic list for future reference or share this resource on social media.
Shuko Aoyama (, Aoyama Sh?ko, born December 19, 1987) is a Japanese tennis player.
Aoyama became a professional tennis player after graduating from Waseda University. She reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 182, on 9 February 2015, and a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 4, on 28 February 2022. She has predominantly played doubles and has won 17 doubles titles on the WTA Tour,[2] having had her most successful Grand Slam appearances at Wimbledon, reaching the semifinals at the 2013[3] and 2021 tournaments. She has also won four singles and 30 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit.
Personal life and background
Aoyama started playing tennis at age 9. Her favorite surface is grass. She studied at Waseda University in Japan.[4]
Professional career
2007-12: First steps, first WTA title in doubles
Aoyama made her ITF Women's Circuit debut in the doubles event at Gifu in 2007. In March 2009, she won her first ITF title at the $10k K?fu doubles event. In June 2010, she won her first singles ITF title at the $10k Tokyo event. In October 2010 at the Japan Open, she made her debut at a WTA Tour main-draw event. She failed to qualify in singles and had more success in doubles, reaching her first WTA final. In late November 2010, she won the $75k Toyota doubles event. In June 2011, she made her WTA Tour singles debut at the Birmingham Classic as a qualifier. At the 2011 Wimbledon, she made her Grand Slam debut in doubles. At the 2012 Washington Open, she won her first WTA title in doubles. In September 2012 she won the $100k Ningbo Challenger. During the 2012 season, she also won two $50k events, the Lexington Challenger and the Bronx Open.
2013-16: More success in doubles, Wimbledon semifinalist
As time passed, Aoyama became mainly a doubles player, playing in doubles events preferentially to singles. She made a strong start into the 2013 season reaching the semifinal in the first week of January at the Shenzhen Open. Soon after, she won her first Grand Slam match at the Australian Open, but then lost in the second round playing with Irina Falconi. In March, she won the Malaysian Open with Chang Kai-chen. She also had a strong start into the grass-court season, reaching the semifinals at the Rosmalen Championships. She achieved more success at Wimbledon, when she and Chanelle Scheepers reached semifinals. This was her first significant Grand Slam result.[5] In the semifinal match, they lost to Hsieh Su-wei and Peng Shuai. In September, she won the Washington Open for the second year in a row. At the end of the year, she reached semifinals of the Korea Open and won the Toyota World Challenge.
2021: WTA 1000 & four more titles, Olympic & top 5 debut, WTA Finals semifinalist
2022: World No. 4, Australian Open SF
Performance timelines
Key
W
F
SF
QF
#R
RR
Q#
P#
DNQ
A
Z#
PO
G
S
B
NMS
NTI
P
NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W-L) win-loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.
Only main-draw results in WTA Tour, Grand Slam tournaments, Fed Cup/Billie Jean King Cup and Olympic Games are included in win-loss records.
^The first Premier 5 event of the year has switched back and forth between the Dubai Tennis Championships and the Qatar Open since 2009. Dubai was classified as a Premier 5 event from 2009-2011 before being succeeded by Doha for the 2012-2014 period. In 2015, Dubai regained its Premier 5 status while Doha was demoted to Premier status. The Premier 5 tournaments were reclassified as WTA 1000 tournaments in 2021.