Shinobu Asagoe (浅越しのぶ, Asagoe Shinobu, born 28 June 1976) is a Japanese former tennis player. She turned professional in 1997, and retired in 2006.

Shinobu Asagoe
浅越しのぶ
Country (sports) Japan
ResidenceHyōgo
Born (1976-06-28) 28 June 1976 (age 48)
Hyōgo
Height1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Turned pro1997
Retired2006
PlaysRight-handed
Prize money$1,662,261
Singles
Career record275–208
Career titles9 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 21 (18 April 2005)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open2R (2005, 2006)
French Open4R (2004)
Wimbledon4R (2003)
US OpenQF (2004)
Doubles
Career record226–148
Career titles8 WTA, 10 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 13 (8 May 2006)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian OpenSF (2006)
French OpenQF (2002, 2005)
Wimbledon3R (2003, 2005)
US Open3R (2005, 2006)
Team competitions
Fed Cup17–10

Career

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2000 was the first year in which she finished in the WTA top 100 (No. 72). At the US Open that year, she defeated Patty Schnyder, a top-50 player. She also reached her first WTA Tour quarterfinal that year at the Princess Cup at Tokyo, defeating Ai Sugiyama and losing to Monica Seles. She also represented Japan at the Sydney Olympics. In 2003, she reached her first WTA singles final. In 2004, she reached her second career singles final in Hobart, as well as her first Grand Slam quarterfinal at the US Open. In April 2005, Asagoe reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 21. In May of the following year, she reached her career-high doubles ranking (13th).

Asagoe appeared in one WTA Tour final, in Auckland 2003, where she lost to Katarina Srebotnik in three sets. She held a 4–0 lead in the second set when Srebotnik took an injury timeout. From there, Strebotnik played "all in" tennis and won the match, in what was an agonising result for Asagoe.

Her most memorable match was a second-round marathon at Wimbledon 2003, when her stressed-out opponent, Daniela Hantuchová, melted down well on the way to what looked like a routine two-set win. Eventually, after nearly three hours, Asagoe won the contest 12–10 in the third set.

She played doubles with Katarina Srebotnik. At the 2006 Australian Open, they reached the semifinals by beating Cara Black/Rennae Stubbs 6–3, 4–6, 6–0. They lost to eventual champions Yan/Zheng in the semifinals.

At the US Open that same year, she lost her first-round match in straight sets to Jelena Kostanić. She had announced, the US Open would be her last tournament. In doubles, with Akiko Morigami, they won their first-round match 6–1, 6–3, and they were to play against the 14th seeds, Marion Bartoli/Shahar Peer. Bartoli/Peer were up 6–4, 5–2, before Shinobu and Akiko won four straight games to make it 6–5. They held many set points at 6–5, but could not convert, thus forcing a tiebreaker; they were down 2–6, but won six straight points, thus taking the tiebreaker, saving four straight match points. They took the final set 6–4.

Asagoe retired at the 2006 US Open, after losing her third-round doubles match (with Morigami) to the world's top-ranked team Lisa Raymond/Samantha Stosur.

Olympic Games medal matches

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Doubles: 1

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Result Year Location Surface Partner Opponents Score
4th place 2004 Athens, Greece Hard   Ai Sugiyama   Paola Suárez
  Patricia Tarabini
3–6, 3–6

WTA Tour finals

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Singles: 3 (3 runner-ups)

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Legend
Tier I (0–0)
Tier II (0–0)
Tier III (0–1)
Tier IV & V (0–2)
Result No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Loss 1. Jun 2003 Birmingham Classic, UK Grass   Magdalena Maleeva 1–6, 4–6
Loss 2. Jan 2004 Hobart International, Australia Hard   Amy Frazier 3–6, 3–6
Loss 3. Jan 2005 Auckland Open, New Zealand Hard   Katarina Srebotnik 7–5, 5–7, 4–6

Doubles: 12 (8 titles, 4 runner-ups)

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Legend
Tier I (1–1)
Tier II (1–0)
Tier III (4–2)
Tier IV & V (2–1)
Result No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1. Jun 2002 Birmingham, UK Grass   Els Callens   Kimberly Po
  Nathalie Tauziat
6–4, 6–3
Win 2. Oct 2002 Tokyo, Japan Hard   Nana Miyagi   Svetlana Kuznetsova
  Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
6–4, 4–6, 6–4
Loss 1. Mar 2003 Miami Open, United States Hard   Nana Miyagi   Liezel Huber
  Magdalena Maleeva
4–6, 6–3, 5–7
Loss 2. Apr 2003 Sarasota, United States Clay   Nana Miyagi   Liezel Huber
  Martina Navratilova
6–7(8–10), 3–6
Win 3. Jan 2004 Hobart, Australia Hard   Seiko Okamoto   Els Callens
  Barbara Schett
2–6, 6–4, 6–3
Win 4. Aug 2004 Montreal, Canada Hard   Ai Sugiyama   Liezel Huber
  Tamarine Tanasugarn
6–0, 6–3
Win 5. Oct 2004 Tokyo, Japan Hard   Katarina Srebotnik   Jennifer Hopkins
  Mashona Washington
6–1, 6–4
Win 6. Jan 2005 Auckland, New Zealand Hard   Katarina Srebotnik   Leanne Baker
  Francesca Lubiani
6–3, 6–3
Loss 3. Oct 2005 Tokyo, Japan Hard   María Vento-Kabchi   Gisela Dulko
  Maria Kirilenko
5–7, 6–4, 3–6
Win 7. Oct 2005 Bangkok, Thailand Hard   Gisela Dulko   Conchita Martínez
  Virginia Ruano Pascual
6–1, 7–5
Loss 4. Mar 2006 Acapulco, Mexico Clay   Émilie Loit   Anna-Lena Grönefeld
  Meghann Shaughnessy
1–6, 3–6
Win 8. Apr 2006 Amelia Island, United States Clay   Katarina Srebotnik   Liezel Huber
  Sania Mirza
6–2, 6–4

ITF Circuit finals

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Legend
$100,000 tournaments
$75,000 tournaments
$50,000 tournaments
$25,000 tournaments
$10,000 tournaments

Singles (9–6)

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Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Winner 1. 27 May 1996 ITF Taipei, Taiwan Hard   Tomoe Hotta 6–3, 6–0
Winner 2. 13 October 1996 ITF Kugayama, Japan Hard   Akiko Morigami 6–1, 3–6, 6–1
Winner 3. 21 October 1996 ITF Kyoto, Japan Hard   Keiko Nagatomi 6–2, 6–4
Winner 4. 18 May 1997 ITF Caboolture, Australia Hard   Renee Reid 6–4, 6–1
Runner-up 5. 25 May 1997 ITF Gympie, Australia Hard   Renee Reid 6–3, 3–6, 4–6
Runner-up 6. 8 June 1997 ITF Ipswich, Australia Hard   Renee Reid 1–6, 3–6
Runner-up 7. 12 October 1997 ITF Saga, Japan Grass   Surina De Beer 1–6, 7–5, 3–6
Winner 8. 22 May 1998 ITF Noda, Japan Hard   Haruka Inoue 6–2, 6–4
Winner 9. 15 March 1999 ITF Noda, Japan Hard   Miroslava Vavrinec 7–5, 6–4
Winner 10. 4 April 1999 ITF Clermont, United States Hard   Nana Smith 5–7, 6–4, 6–1
Runner-up 11. 1 May 2000 Kangaroo Cup, Japan Carpet   Tamarine Tanasugarn 5–7, 5–6
Runner-up 12. 7 April 2002 Dubai Tennis Challenge, UAE Hard   Angelique Widjaja 6–7(4), 2–6
Runner-up 13. 5 May 2002 Kangaroo Cup, Japan Carpet   Julie Pullin 6–4, 4–6, 3–6
Winner 14. 20 October 2002 ITF Haibara, Japan Carpet   Aiko Nakamura 6–4, 7–5
Winner 15. 5 May 2003 Kangaroo Cup, Japan Grass   Saori Obata 6–4, 6–1

Doubles (10-9)

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Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Runner-up 1. 3 October 1994 ITF Ibaraki, Japan Hard   Haruka Inoue   Kim Il-soon
  Yoriko Yamagishi
2–6, 1–6
Winner 2. 16 October 1995 ITF Kugayama, Japan Hard   Yuko Hosoki   Natalie Frawley
  Jenny Anne Fetch
6–4, 7–6(3)
Winner 3. 3 June 1996 ITF Taichung, Taiwan Hard   Yuka Tanaka   Tomoe Hotta
  Sachie Umehara
6–0, 6–1
Runner-up 4. 4 May 1997 Gifu, Japan Hard   Yasuko Nishimata   Saori Obata
  Kaoru Shibata
3–6, 5–7
Winner 5. 17 May 1997 Caboolture, Australia Clay   Benjamas Sangaram   Nannie de Villiers
  Lisa McShea
6–4, 7–5
Winner 6. 24 May 1997 Gympie, Australia Clay   Benjamas Sangaram   Nannie de Villiers
  Lisa McShea
5–7, 6–3, 6–3
Runner-up 7. 31 May 1997 Bundaberg, Australia Clay   Benjamas Sangaram   Nannie de Villiers
  Lisa McShea
6–4, 1–6, 1–6
Runner-up 8. 7 June 1997 Ipswich, Australia Clay   Benjamas Sangaram   Nannie de Villiers
  Lisa McShea
4–6, 6–3, 5–7
Winner 9. 18 October 1998 Seoul, South Korea Hard   Kirstin Freye   Catherine Barclay
  Choi Young-ja
6–2, 7–6
Runner-up 10. 21 March 1999 Noda, Japan Hard   Yuka Yoshida   Cho Yoon-jeong
  Park Sung-hee
3–6, 3–6
Runner-up 11. 24 October 1999 Nashville, United States Hard   Yuka Yoshida   Nicole Arendt
  Katie Schlukebir
1–6, 6–7
Winner 12. 7 May 2000 Kangaroo Cup, Japan Carpet   Yuka Yoshida   Nannie de Villiers
  Surina De Beer
6–3, 6–1
Winner 13. 14 May 2000 Seoul, South Korea Clay   Saori Obata   Li Na
  Li Ting
6–1, 6–3
Winner 14. 26 November 2002 Minneapolis, United States Hard (i)   Els Callens   Rika Hiraki
  Nana Smith
7–6(3), 7–6(3)
Runner-up 15. 1 May 2002 Kangaroo Cup, Japan Carpet   Rika Fujiwara   Cho Yoon-jeong
  Evie Dominikovic
2–6, 2–6
Winner 16. 12 May 2002 Fukuoka International, Japan Hard   Cho Yoon-jeong   Julie Pullin
  Lorna Woodroffe
6–2, 6–4
Runner-up 17. 18 August 2002 Bronx Open, United States Hard   Nana Smith   Maret Ani
  Flavia Pennetta
4–6, 1–6
Runner-up 18. 27 April 2003 Kangaroo Cup, Japan Carpet   Nana Smith   Rika Fujiwara
  Saori Obata
6–1, 5–7, 3–6
Winner 19. 8 June 2003 Surbiton Trophy, UK Grass   Nana Smith   Bethanie Mattek-Sands
  Lilia Osterloh
7–6, 3–6, 6–4
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