# Shinobu Asagoe

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.

## Career

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
### Doubles: 1

| 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
### Singles: 3 (3 runner-ups)

* 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)

* 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

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

### Singles (9–6)

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

### Doubles (10-9)

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