Hiroko Kuwata

Japanese tennis player
Hiroko Kuwata
桑田寛子
Kuwata at the 2016 Wimbledon
Country (sports) Japan
Born (1990-12-18) 18 December 1990 (age 33)
Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan[1]
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize moneyUS$ 356,468
Singles
Career record353–319 (52.5%)
Career titles7 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 150 (9 May 2016)
Current rankingNo. 545 (5 February 2024)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian OpenQ2 (2016)
French OpenQ2 (2017)
WimbledonQ1 (2015)
US OpenQ1 (2014, 2015)
Doubles
Career record251–190 (56.9%)
Career titles20 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 112 (13 July 2015)
Current rankingNo. 476 (5 February 2024)
Last updated on: 9 February 2024.

Hiroko Kuwata (Japanese: 桑田寛子; born 18 December 1990) is a Japanese tennis player.

Kuwata has won seven singles titles and 20 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. On 9 May 2016, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 150. On 13 July 2015, she peaked at No. 112 in the WTA doubles rankings.

Career

Kuwata made her WTA Tour debut at the 2014 Washington Open, having entered the qualifying tournament and defeating Sanaz Marand and Stéphanie Dubois for a spot in the main draw. She was thereby pitted against world No. 45 Alison Riske and defeated the American in straight sets, losing five games in the process. It was Kuwata's first main-draw win at the WTA level.[2] She also competed in the doubles event, partnering with Kurumi Nara to defeat Nicola Slater and Emily Webley-Smith in the first round. The Japanese advanced to the final of the event, losing to Shuko Aoyama and Gabriela Dabrowski.[3]

WTA career finals

Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Legend
Grand Slam
WTA 1000
WTA 500
WTA 250[a] (0–1)
Finals by surface
Hard (0–1)
Grass (0–0)
Clay (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Result Date Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss Aug 2014 Washington Open, United States International Hard Japan Kurumi Nara Japan Shuko Aoyama
Canada Gabriela Dabrowski
1–6, 2–6

ITF Circuit finals

Singles: 18 (7 titles, 11 runner–ups)

Legend
$75,000 tournaments (1–1)
$50,000 tournaments (0–1)
$25,000 tournaments (1–2)
$10/15,000 tournaments (5–7)
Finals by surface
Hard (6–10)
Carpet (1–1)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 Feb 2012 ITF Vale do Lobo, Portugal 10,000 Hard France Estelle Guisard 2–6, 1–6
Win 1–1 Mar 2012 Kōfu International Open, Japan 10,000 Hard China Liu Fangzhou 6–4, 4–6, 7–6(7)
Loss 1–2 Mar 2013 Kōfu International Open, Japan 10,000 Hard Japan Yuuki Tanaka 3–6, 1–6
Win 2–2 Aug 2013 ITF Uşak, Turkey 10,000 Hard Germany Michaela Frlicka 7–6(3), 6–2
Win 3–2 Sep 2013 ITF Kyoto, Japan 10,000 Carpet (i) Japan Akiko Yonemura 6–1, 6–2
Loss 3–3 Nov 2013 Toyota World Challenge, Japan 75,000 Carpet (i) Thailand Luksika Kumkhum 6–3, 1–6, 3–6
Loss 3–4 Mar 2014 ITF Port Pirie, Australia 15,000 Hard Japan Misa Eguchi 1–6, 2–6
Loss 3–5 Oct 2014 ITF Perth, Australia 25,000 Hard Sweden Rebecca Peterson 3–6, 0–6
Win 4–5 Sep 2015 ITF Bangkok, Thailand 15,000 Hard Thailand Bunyawi Thamchaiwat 6–3, 7–6(4)
Win 5–5 Oct 2015 ITF Bangkok, Thailand 15,000 Hard Ukraine Valeriya Strakhova 7–5, 6–4
Loss 5–6 Nov 2015 Bendigo International, Australia 50,000 Hard Japan Misa Eguchi 6–7(5), 3–6
Win 6–6 May 2016 Kangaroo Cup, Japan 75,000 Hard China Wang Qiang 6–2, 2–6, 6–4
Loss 6–7 Dec 2017 ITF Hong Kong 15,000 Hard Japan Haruka Kaja 6–4, 2–6, 6–7(4)
Loss 6–8 Jan 2018 ITF Hong Kong 15,000 Hard Chinese Taipei Lee Ya-hsuan 4–6, 4–6
Win 7–8 Jun 2018 ITF Singapore 25,000 Hard Serbia Jovana Jakšić 7–6, 6–0
Loss 7–9 May 2023 ITF Monastir, Tunisia 15,000 Hard Slovakia Katarina Kužmová 6–3, 6–7(4) 3–6
Loss 7–10 Jul 2023 ITF Monastir, Tunisia 15,000 Hard France Caroline Roméo 3–6, 4–6
Loss 7–11 Sep 2023 ITF Kyoto, Japan 25,000 Hard (i) Sofya Lansere 0–6, 1–6

Doubles: 37 (20 titles, 16 runner–ups, 1 not played)

Legend
$75,000 tournaments (0–1)
$50/60,000 tournaments (5–6)
$40,000 tournaments (0–2)
$25,000 tournaments (9–4)
$10/15,000 tournaments (6–3)
Finals by surface
Hard (15–15)
Clay (0–1)
Grass (3–0)
Carpet (2–0)
Result W-L Date Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 Mar 2012 ITF Miyazaki, Japan 10,000 Grass Japan Akari Inoue Japan Kanae Hisami
Japan Yumi Miyazaki
6–3, 6–0
Loss 1–1 Jun 2012 ITF Tokyo, Japan 10,000 Hard Japan Akari Inoue Japan Maiko Inoue
Japan Kaori Onishi
7–5, 5–7, [7–10]
Win 2–1 Jun 2012 ITF Mie, Japan 10,000 Grass Japan Yuuki Tanaka Japan Akari Inoue
Japan Kaori Onishi
6–3, 3–6, [10–5]
Win 3–1 Mar 2013 Kōfu International Open, Japan 10,000 Hard Japan Akari Inoue South Korea Han Na-lae
China Yang Zi
3–6, 7–5, [10–7]
Loss 3–2 Aug 2013 ITF Vienna, Austria 10,000 Clay Japan Hirono Watanabe Slovakia Michaela Pochabová
Slovakia Rebecca Šramková
5–7, 2–6
Win 4–2 Sep 2013 ITF Kyoto, Japan 10,000 Carpet (i) Japan Miyu Kato Japan Mana Ayukawa
Japan Emi Mutaguchi
6–4, 6–2
Loss 4–3 Mar 2014 ITF Port Pirie, Australia 15,000 Hard Japan Miyabi Inoue Australia Jessica Moore
Bulgaria Aleksandrina Naydenova
4–6, 3–6
Win 5–3 Jun 2014 Fergana Challenger, Uzbekistan 25,000 Hard Japan Mari Tanaka Japan Nao Hibino
India Prarthana Thombare
6–1, 6–4
Win 6–3 Jul 2014 ITF Gatineau, Canada 25,000 Hard Japan Chiaki Okadaue Japan Mana Ayukawa
Poland Justyna Jegiołka
6–1, 6–4
Win 7–3 Jul 2014 Challenger de Granby, Canada 25,000 Hard Japan Riko Sawayanagi Canada Erin Routliffe
Canada Carol Zhao
w/o
Win 8–3 Feb 2015 Open de l'Isère, France 25,000 Hard (i) Netherlands Demi Schuurs France Manon Arcangioli
Netherlands Cindy Burger
6–1, 6–3
Win 9–3 Mar 2015 ITF Mildura, Australia 15,000 Grass Japan Yuuki Tanaka China Tian Ran
China Wang Yan
6–2, 6–0
Loss 9–4 Mar 2015 Blossom Cup, China 50,000 Hard Japan Junri Namigata Japan Eri Hozumi
Japan Makoto Ninomiya
3–6, 7–6(2), [2–10]
Win 10–4 Jun 2015 ITF Andijan, Uzbekistan 25,000 Hard Uzbekistan Nigina Abduraimova Russia Veronika Kudermetova
Russia Ksenia Lykina
4–6, 7–6(5), [11–9]
Win 11–4 Sep 2015 ITF Bangkok, Thailand 15,000 Hard Japan Ayaka Okuno Japan Mana Ayukawa
Japan Yuuki Tanaka
2–6, 6–1, [10–6]
Loss 11–5 Nov 2015 Bendigo International, Australia 50,000 Hard Russia Natela Dzalamidze United States Lauren Embree
United States Asia Muhammad
5–7, 3–6
Loss 11–6 May 2016 Kangaroo Cup, Japan 75,000 Hard Japan Ayaka Okuno Japan Eri Hozumi
Japan Miyu Kato
1–6, 2–6
Win 12–6 Jul 2016 Lexington Challenger, U.S. 50,000 Hard China Zhu Lin United States Sophie Chang
United States Alexandra Mueller
6–0, 7–5
Win 13–6 Oct 2016 Suzhou Ladies Open, China 50,000 Hard Japan Akiko Omae United States Jacqueline Cako
Uzbekistan Sabina Sharipova
6–1, 6–3
Win 14–6 Jan 2017 ITF Hong Kong 25,000 Hard Japan Akiko Omae Russia Ksenia Lykina
Japan Riko Sawayanagi
6–1, 6–0
Loss 14–7 Mar 2017 Blossom Cup, China 60,000 Hard China Zhu Lin China Han Xinyun
China Ye Qiuyu
3–6, 3–6
Loss 14–8 Jun 2017 Kōfu International Open, Japan 25,000 Hard Japan Riko Sawayanagi Japan Rika Fujiwara
Japan Kyōka Okamura
6–7(4), 3–6
Win 15–8 Jul 2017 ITF Winnipeg, Canada 25,000 Hard Russia Valeria Savinykh Australia Kimberly Birrell
United States Caroline Dolehide
6–4, 7–6(4)
Win 16–8 Jul 2017 ITF Gatineau, Canada 25,000 Hard Russia Valeria Savinykh Australia Kimberly Birrell
United Kingdom Emily Webley-Smith
4–6, 6–3, [10–5]
Loss 16–9 Aug 2017 Lexington Challenger, U.S. 60,000 Hard Russia Valeria Savinykh Australia Priscilla Hon
Belarus Vera Lapko
3–6, 4–6
Loss 16–10 Aug 2018 ITF Tsukuba, Japan 25,000 Hard Australia Naiktha Bains Japan Akiko Omae
China You Xiaodi
0–6, 6–7(4)
Win 17–10 Sep 2018 ITF Darwin, Australia 60,000 Hard India Rutuja Bhosale Australia Kimberly Birrell
United Kingdom Katy Dunne
6–2, 6–4
Loss 17–11 Jan 2019 ITF Hong Kong 25,000 Hard Japan Robu Kajtani Chinese Taipei Chen Pei-hsuan
Chinese Taipei Wu Fang-hsien
3–6, 3–6
Loss 17–12 Mar 2019 Pingshan Open, China 60,000 Hard Uzbekistan Sabina Sharipova Chinese Taipei Liang En-shuo
China Xun Fangying
4–6, 1–6
Win 18–12 May 2019 Kurume Cup, Japan 60,000 Carpet United States Ena Shibahara Japan Erina Hayashi
Japan Moyuka Uchijima
0–6, 6–4, [10–5]
Loss 18–13 Aug 2021 ITF Bydgoszcz, Poland 25,000 Clay Colombia Yuliana Lizarazo Brazil Carolina Alves
Belarus Iryna Shymanovich
1–6, 6–3, [5–10]
Win 19–13 Sep 2021 Caldas da Rainha Open, Portugal 60,000+H Hard Japan Momoko Kobori United Kingdom Alicia Barnett
United Kingdom Olivia Nicholls
7–6(5), 7–6(2)
Win 20–13 Apr 2022 ITF Monastir, Tunisia 25,000 Hard Uzbekistan Nigina Abduraimova New Zealand Paige Hourigan
Valeria Savinykh
6–1, 3–6, [12–10]
Loss 20–14 Aug 2022 Bronx Open, United States 60,000 Hard South Korea Han Na-lae Anna Blinkova
Switzerland Simona Waltert
3–6, 3–6
Loss 20–15 Jan 2023 ITF Nonthaburi, Thailand 40,000 Hard Ukraine Kateryna Volodko Chinese Taipei Liang En-shuo
China Ma Yexin
0–6, 3–6
Loss 20–16 Jun 2023 ITF La Marsa, Tunisia 40,000 Hard Ukraine Kateryna Volodko Maria Kozyreva
China Wei Sijia
7–5, 4–6, [6–10]
Finalist[b] –NP- Nov 2023 ITF Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 25,000 Hard Brazil Rebeca Pereira Poland Anna Hertel
Poland Olivia Lincer
not played

Notes

  1. ^ The WTA International tournaments were reclassified as WTA 250 tournaments in 2021.
  2. ^ The match was not played due to poor weather.

References

  1. ^ "桑田寛子". Japan Tennis Association. 2023-03-07.
  2. ^ "Citi Open Main Draw Singles" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 August 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  3. ^ "Citi Open Main Draw Doubles" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 August 2014. Retrieved 29 July 2014.

External links