Naoko Sawamatsu is a former professional tennis

Tennis

Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

 player. During her career she won 4 WTA

WTA

WTA may refer to:* World Trampolining Association, Founded in 1866 following the founding of the Amateur Athletics Association in 1864.*War of the Triple Alliance, a war between Paraguay and the alliance of Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay...

 career singles titles. Sawamatsu reached a career high ranking of World No. 14 on 6th of February 1995. At the time of the 1995 Australian Open

1995 Australian Open

The 1995 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts at Flinders Park in Melbourne in Victoria in Australia. It was the 83rd edition of the Australian Open and was held from 16 through 29 January 1995.-Men's Singles:...

 her family survived the Great Hanshin earthquake

Great Hanshin earthquake

The Great Hanshin earthquake, or Kobe earthquake, was an earthquake that occurred on Tuesday, January 17, 1995, at 05:46 JST in the southern part of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. It measured 6.8 on the moment magnitude scale , and Mj7.3 on JMA magnitude scale. The tremors lasted for approximately 20...

 and Sawamatsu went on to achieve her best Grand Slam result at Melbourne Park, reaching the quarter finals defeating Kimiko Date

Kimiko Date

is a Japanese professional tennis player. In her career, she has won over 200 tournament matches. She has won the Japan Open four times. In 1994, she was ranked in the top-ten women players in the world. In 1992, the WTA awarded her the "Most Improved Player of the Year". After playing in her...

 in the third round, Mary Joe Fernandez

Mary Joe Fernández

Mary Joe Fernández Godsick is an American former professional tennis player...

 in the forth round before losing to Arantxa Sánchez Vicario

Arantxa Sánchez Vicario

Aránzazu 'Arantxa' Isabel Maria Sánchez Vicario is a Spanish former professional tennis player...

.

Sawamatsu's most significant title came in 1993 at Strasbourg, she defeated clay courter Judith Wiesner

Judith Wiesner

Judith Wiesner is a former professional tennis player from Austria. During her career, she won six top-level singles titles and three tour doubles titles. Her career high rankings were World Number 12 in singles , and World Number 29 in doubles...

 in the final. Sawamatsu had much success at Strasbourg reaching the semifinals in 1991, final in 1992 losing to Judith Wiesner

Judith Wiesner

Judith Wiesner is a former professional tennis player from Austria. During her career, she won six top-level singles titles and three tour doubles titles. Her career high rankings were World Number 12 in singles , and World Number 29 in doubles...

.

Sawamatsu retired from professional tennis after losing in the second round of the 1998 Japan Open to Monica Seles

Monica Seles

Monica Seles is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player and a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. She was born in Novi Sad, Serbia, former Yugoslavia to Hungarian parents. She became a naturalized United States citizen in 1994 and also received Hungarian citizenship in June 2007...

 in a three set match 6–3, 3–6, 6–3. Sawamatsu had wins over the following players during her career Martina Hingis

Martina Hingis

Martina Hingis is a retired Swiss professional tennis player who spent a total of 209 weeks as World No. 1. She won five Grand Slam singles titles...

, Lindsay Davenport

Lindsay Davenport

Lindsay Ann Davenport is a former World No. 1 American professional tennis player. She has won three Grand Slam singles tournaments and an Olympic gold medal in singles. In 2005, TENNIS Magazine ranked her as the 29th-best player of the preceding forty years...

, Kimiko Date

Kimiko Date

is a Japanese professional tennis player. In her career, she has won over 200 tournament matches. She has won the Japan Open four times. In 1994, she was ranked in the top-ten women players in the world. In 1992, the WTA awarded her the "Most Improved Player of the Year". After playing in her...

, Mary Joe Fernandez

Mary Joe Fernández

Mary Joe Fernández Godsick is an American former professional tennis player...

, Amanda Coetzer

Amanda Coetzer

Amanda Coetzer is a former professional tennis player from South Africa.Coetzer turned professional in 1988 and retired in 2004...

, and Conchita Martínez

Conchita Martínez

Inmaculada Concepción Martínez Bernat is a former professional tennis player from Monzón, Aragón, Spain. She is the only Spanish woman to have won the singles title at Wimbledon, when she beat Martina Navrátilová in the 1994 Women's Singles. She also was the singles runner-up at the 1998...

.

Sawamatsu's career prize money totalled US$1,107,264 with a win/loss record in singles of 205-143.

Since retirement, Sawamatsu has been involved in the development of the sport in her native country.

Singles 7 (4-3)

Legend
Grand Slam	0
WTA Championships	0
Tier I	0
Tier II	0
Tier III	2
Tier IV & V	2
Olympic Games	0

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Winner	1.	28 April 1990	Singapore WTA Singapore Open The WTA Singapore Open is a defunct WTA Tour affiliated tennis tournament played from 1986 to 1994. It was held at the National Stadium in Singapore. The tournament was held on indoor hard courts in 1986 and on outdoor hard courts from 1987 to 1994.-Singles:...	Hard (o)	Sarah Loosemore Sarah Loosemore Sarah Loosemore is a Welsh retired professional tennis player, now a qualified solicitor.Born in Cardiff but brought up in Dinas Powys by solicitor father John and tennis coach mother Pamela, Loosemore played on the WTA from the late 1980s until 1992. The youngest ever female British competitor at...	7-6, 3-6, 6-4
Runner-up	2.	21 April 1991	Pattaya, Thailand	Hard (o)	Yayuk Basuki Yayuk Basuki Yayuk Basuki is a professional tennis player from Indonesia. She is the highest-ever ranked tennis player from Indonesia, having reached #19 in the Women's Tennis Association singles rankings in October 1997...	2-6, 2-6
Runner-up	3.	24 May 1992	Strasbourg Internationaux de Strasbourg The Internationaux de Strasbourg is a tennis tournament held in Strasbourg, France. Held since 1987, this WTA Tour event is an International-level tournament played on outdoor clay courts.... , France	Clay	Judith Wiesner Judith Wiesner Judith Wiesner is a former professional tennis player from Austria. During her career, she won six top-level singles titles and three tour doubles titles. Her career high rankings were World Number 12 in singles , and World Number 29 in doubles...	1-6, 3-6
Runner-up	4.	16 January 1993	Melbourne Melbourne Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater... , Australia	Hard (o)	Amanda Coetzer Amanda Coetzer Amanda Coetzer is a former professional tennis player from South Africa.Coetzer turned professional in 1988 and retired in 2004...	2-6, 3-6
Winner	5.	23 May 1993	Strasbourg Internationaux de Strasbourg The Internationaux de Strasbourg is a tennis tournament held in Strasbourg, France. Held since 1987, this WTA Tour event is an International-level tournament played on outdoor clay courts.... , France	Clay	Judith Wiesner Judith Wiesner Judith Wiesner is a former professional tennis player from Austria. During her career, she won six top-level singles titles and three tour doubles titles. Her career high rankings were World Number 12 in singles , and World Number 29 in doubles...	4-6, 6-1, 6-3
Winner	6.	24 April 1994	Singapore WTA Singapore Open The WTA Singapore Open is a defunct WTA Tour affiliated tennis tournament played from 1986 to 1994. It was held at the National Stadium in Singapore. The tournament was held on indoor hard courts in 1986 and on outdoor hard courts from 1987 to 1994.-Singles:...	Hard (o)	Florencia Labat Florencia Labat María Florencia Labat was a professional female tennis player from Argentina. She joined the WTA Tour in 1988 and retired in 2000. On September 12, 1994 she reached a career high singles ranking of number 26 worldwide.-Singles 4 :-Doubles 17 :-External links:...	7-5, 7-5
Winner	7.	27 April 1997	Jakarta, Indonesia	Hard (o)	Yuka Yoshida Yuka Yoshida Yuka Yoshida is a tennis player from Japan who has one doubles win in Memphis, Tennessee. Her best grand slam result came in 1998 when she reached the Quarterfinals of the doubles at the US Open.-References:...	6-3, 6-2

External links

• Sports Reference