# Mai Hontama

Mai Hontama (本玉真唯) (born 30 August 1999) is a Japanese tennis player. Hontama has a career-high singles ranking of 105 by the WTA, achieved on 5 August 2024, and a career-high doubles ranking of 109, set on 6 November 2023.

## Career
### 2021: WTA Tour debut and first quarterfinal

Hontama made her WTA Tour debut at the WTA 500 2021 Chicago Fall Tennis Classic, after qualifying for the main draw. She reached the quarterfinals, defeating former world No. 4, Caroline Garcia in the first round, her first top 100 win, 11th seed Anett Kontaveit by walkover and Shelby Rogers, before falling to eventual champion Garbiñe Muguruza.

### 2022-2023: Major debut and first win

She made her Grand Slam debut at the Wimbledon Championships after qualifying, where she recorded the first major match win in her career, over Clara Tauson.
At her home tournament, the WTA 500 Pan Pacific Open, she reached the second round in 2023, after qualifying and defeating compatriot Nao Hibino before she lost to the top seed Iga Świątek.

### 2024: WTA 1000 debut

She received a wildcard for the 2024 Australian Open making her main-draw debut at this major but lost to ninth seed Barbora Krejčíková.
She made her WTA 1000 debut in Indian Wells, after qualifying into the main draw, and recorded her first win at this level defeating Zhang Shuai, but lost to 31st seed Marta Kostyuk, in the second round.
Ranked No. 116, she also made her debut at the WTA 1000 China Open, as a lucky loser, after the late withdrawal of Amanda Anisimova, losing in the first round to Wang Xinyu.

## Sponsorship

Hontama wears Lacoste clothing, and uses Tecnifibre racquets.

## Performance timeline

Key :
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | P# | DNQ | A | Z# | PO | G | S | B | NMS | NTI | P | NH |
Only main-draw results in WTA Tour, Grand Slam tournaments, Billie Jean King Cup, United Cup, Hopman Cup and Olympic Games are included in win–loss records.

### Singles

Current through the 2023 Tunis Open.
| Tournament | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | SR | W–L | Win% |
| Grand Slam tournaments ||||||||
| Australian Open | A | Q3 | Q2 | 1R | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| French Open | A | Q1 | Q3 | Q2 | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| Wimbledon | A | 2R | Q1 | Q1 | 0 / 1 | 1–1 | 50% |
| US Open | Q2 | Q2 | Q2 | Q2 | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0 / 2 | 1–2 | 33% |
| National representation ||||||||
| Billie Jean King Cup | A | PO | PO | | 0 / 0 | 7–1 | 88% |
| WTA 1000 ||||||||
| Dubai / Qatar Open | A | A | A | | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| Indian Wells Open | 1R | Q2 | A | | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| Miami Open | A | Q1 | A | | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| Madrid Open | A | A | A | | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| Italian Open | A | A | A | | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| Canadian Open | A | A | A | | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| Cincinnati Open | A | A | A | | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| Guadalajara Open | NH | A | A | | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| Wuhan Open | NH | NH | NH | | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| China Open | NH | NH | A | | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| Win–loss | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| Career statistics ||||||||
| | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | | SR | W–L | Win% |
| Tournaments | 2 | 4 | 4 | | Career total: 10 | Career total: 10 | Career total: 10 |
| Titles | 0 | 0 | 0 | | Career total: 0 | Career total: 0 | Career total: 0 |
| Finals | 0 | 0 | 0 | | Career total: 0 | Career total: 0 | Career total: 0 |
| Overall win–loss | 2–2 | 3–5 | 11–4 | | 0 / 10 | 16–11 | 59% |
| Year-end ranking | 150 | 212 | 124 | | $555,639 | $555,639 | $555,639 |

### Doubles

Current through the 2023 Pan Pacific Open.
| Tournament | 2022 | 2023 | SR | W–L |
| Grand Slam tournaments |||||
| Australian Open | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 |
| French Open | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 |
| Wimbledon | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 |
| US Open | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0 / 0 | 0–0 |
| National representation |||||
| Billie Jean King Cup | PO | PO | 0 / 0 | 0–0 |
| Career statistics |||||
| Tournaments | 1 | 2 | Career total: 3 | Career total: 3 |
| Titles | 0 | 0 | Career total: 0 | Career total: 0 |
| Finals | 0 | 0 | Career total: 0 | Career total: 0 |
| Overall win–loss | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0 / 3 | 1–3 |
| Year–end ranking | 512 | | | |

## WTA Tour finals
### Doubles: 1 (runner-up)

* Legend
* Grand Slam
* WTA 1000
* WTA 500
* WTA 250
* Finals by surface
* Hard (0–1)
* Grass (0–0)
* Clay (0–0)
* Carpet (0–0)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Loss | 0–1 | Oct 2023 | Jasmin Open, Tunisia | WTA 250 | Hard | Natalija Stevanović | Sara Errani Jasmine Paolini | 6–2, 6–7$^{(4–7)}$, [6–10] |

## ITF Circuit finals
### Singles: 8 (4 titles, 4 runner–ups)

* Legend
* $60,000 tournaments (1–0)
* $40,000 tournaments (1–0)
* $25,000 tournaments (2–2)
* $15,000 tournaments (0–2)
* Finals by surface
* Hard (4–1)
* Clay (0–2)
* Carpet (0–1)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Loss | 0–1 | Sep 2018 | ITF Nanao, Japan | 25,000 | Carpet | Ayano Shimizu | 3–6, 1–6 |
| Loss | 0–2 | Mar 2020 | ITF Yokohama, Japan | 25,000 | Hard | Yuriko Miyazaki | 5–7, 7–5, 2–6 |
| Loss | 0–3 | Mar 2021 | ITF Antalya, Turkey | 15,000 | Clay | Jang Su-jeong | 6–4, 3–6, 2–6 |
| Loss | 0–4 | Mar 2021 | ITF Antalya, Turkey | 15,000 | Clay | Cristina Dinu | 2–6, 3–6 |
| Win | 1–4 | May 2021 | ITF Salinas, Ecuador | 25,000 | Hard | Carol Zhao | 7–5, 6–1 |
| Win | 2–4 | Jun 2021 | ITF Porto, Portugal | 25,000 | Hard | Anastasia Tikhonova | 6–4, 6–3 |
| Win | 3–4 | Nov 2022 | Sydney Challenger, Australia | 60,000 | Hard | Petra Hule | 7–6$^{(1)}$, 3–6, 7–5 |
| Win | 4–4 | Mar 2023 | Branik Maribor Open, Slovenia | 40,000 | Hard (i) | Clara Tauson | 6–4, 3–6, 6–4 |

### Doubles: 9 (5 titles, 4 runner-ups)

* Legend
* $100,000 tournaments (1–1)
* $60,000 tournaments (3–1)
* $25,000 tournaments (1–1)
* $10,000 tournaments (0–1)
* Finals by surface
* Hard (3–4)
* Clay (2–0)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Loss | 0–1 | Dec 2016 | ITF Hua Hin, Thailand | 10,000 | Hard | Yukina Saigo | Nudnida Luangnam Varunya Wongteanchai | 5–7, 3–6 |
| Win | 1–1 | Sep 2022 | ITF Santarém, Portugal | 25,000 | Hard | Maddison Inglis | Suzan Lamens Anastasia Tikhonova | 6–0, 6–4 |
| Loss | 1–2 | Nov 2022 | Yokohama Challenger, Japan | 25,000 | Hard | Han Na-lae | Saki Imamura Naho Sato | 4–6, 6–4, [5–10] |
| Loss | 1–3 | Nov 2022 | ITF Tokyo Open, Japan | 60,000 | Hard (i) | Junri Namigata | Hsieh Yu-chieh Jessy Rompies | 4–6, 3–6 |
| Win | 2–3 | Feb 2023 | Burnie International, Australia | 60,000 | Hard | Eri Hozumi | Ena Shibahara Arina Rodionova | 4–6, 6–3, [10–6] |
| Win | 3–3 | Mar 2023 | ITF Pretoria, South Africa | 60,000 | Hard | Alice Tubello | Sofia Costoulas Dalila Spiteri | 6–3, 6–3 |
| Win | 4–3 | May 2023 | Open Villa de Madrid, Spain | 100,000 | Hard | Eri Hozumi | Eleni Christofi Despina Papamichail | 6–0, 7–5 |
| Win | 5–3 | Jun 2023 | Internazionali di Brescia, Italy | 60,000 | Clay | Moyuka Uchijima | Alena Fomina-Klotz Olivia Tjandramulia | 6–1, 6–0 |
| Loss | 5–4 | Aug 2023 | Landisville Tennis Challenge, United States | 100,000 | Hard | Olivia Gadecki | Sophie Chang Yulia Starodubtseva | w/o |

## Head-to-head records
### Record against top 10 players

* She has a 0–2 (0%) record against players who were, at the time the match was played, ranked in the top 10.
| Result | W–L | Opponent | Rank | Event | Surface | Round | Score | Rank |
| 2021 ||||||||||
| Loss | 0–1 | Garbiñe Muguruza | No. 9 | Chicago Classic, United States | Hard | QF | 3–6, 2–6 | No. 200 |
| 2023 ||||||||||
| Loss | 0–2 | Iga Świątek | No. 2 | Pan Pacific Open, Japan | Hard | 2R | 4–6, 5–7 | No. 148 |