Wakana Sonobe

Last updated
Wakana Sonobe
Country (sports)Flag of Japan.svg  Japan
Born (2008-01-17) 17 January 2008 (age 17)
PlaysLeft-handed (two-handed backhand) [1]
Prize money$13,572
Singles
Career record36–20
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 464 (10 February 2025)
Current rankingNo. 464 (10 February 2025)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open  JuniorW (2025)
French Open  Junior3R (2024)
Wimbledon  Junior3R (2024)
US Open  JuniorF (2024)
Doubles
Career record11–9
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 974 (27 May 2024)
Current rankingNo. 1,375 (3 February 2025)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open  JuniorQF (2025)
French Open  JuniorQF (2024)
Wimbledon  JuniorQF (2024)
US Open  JuniorSF (2023)
Last updated on: 10 February 2025.

Wakana Sonobe (born 17 January 2008) is a Japanese tennis player. She won the girls' singles at the 2025 Australian Open and reached the final of the girls' singles at the 2024 US Open. [2]

Contents

Early life

From Saitama Prefecture, she started playing tennis at four years-old, and briefly did ballet as a youngster. She won the Japanese U14 national tennis title in singles in 2021. She became based at the IMG Academy in the United States in February 2022. [3] [4]

Career

2023

She made her junior grand slam debut at the 2023 Australian Open where she reached the second round with partner Emerson Jones. [5] [6] Playing the girls' singles at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships she was defeated by British player Mika Stojsavljevic in the first round. [7] She lost to Stojsavljevic again in the first round of the 2023 US Open girls' singles but reached the semi finals of the girls' doubles alongside compatriot Hayu Kinoshita. [8]

2024

Playing alongside Mika Stojsavljevic she reached the quarter finals of the girls' doubles at the 2024 French Open where they were defeated by eventual winners Iva Jovic and Tyra Caterina Grant. She reached the third round of the singles but lost to Tereza Valentová. [9] [10]

She reached the quarter finals of the girls' doubles alongside Iva Ivanova of Bulgaria at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships. She reached the third round of the girls' singles where she lost to Iva Jovic. [11] [12]

In September 2024, she defeated Mingge Xu to reach the final of the girls' singles at the 2024 US Open. [13] She lost in the final to British player Mika Stojsavljevic. [14]

2025: WTA debut and first win

She made a second consecutive junior grand slam final in the girls' singles at the Australian Open, defeating Australian's Tahlia Kokkinis [15] and Emerson Jones [16] in the quarter-final and semi-final respectively, before beating American Kristina Penickova in straight sets the final. [17] Alongside Mika Stojsavljevic, she also reached the quarter finals of the at the girls doubles at the Championships. [18]

Sonobe qualified to make her WTA Tour main-draw debut at the WTA 500 Abu Dhabi Open and recorded her first tour-level win over Yuan Yue in the first round. [19] [20] She lost in the second round to Ons Jabeur. [21]

Junior finals

Grand Slam tournaments

Singles: 2 (1 title and 1 runner-up)

ResultYearTournamentSurfaceOpponentScore
Loss 2024 US Open Hard Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Mika Stojsavljevic 4–6, 4–6
Win 2025 Australian Open Hard Flag of the United States.svg Kristina Penickova 6–0, 6-1

References

  1. ↑ Lewis, Colette (8 December 2023). "Pacheco Mendez and Sonobe Claim Eddie Herr ITF Titles". Tennis Rectruiting. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
  2. ↑ "Wakana Sonobe". Eurosport. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
  3. ↑ "Interview with Sonobe Wakana: The 13-year-old is known for her aggressive tennis style that makes the most of her 170cm height and left-handedness. "I'll do my best in each". tennisclassic.jp. 7 December 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
  4. ↑ "Their first pairing is perfect. The rapidly growing Sonobe Wakana and the young veteran(?) Kinoshita Hayu make it to the top four". news.line.me. September 8, 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  5. ↑ Uchida, Akira (6 September 2024). "16-year-old Sonobe Yasou advances to the finals of the "US Open Juniors" with big-scale tennis! He's not satisfied, but "I'm still happy"". thedigestweb. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
  6. ↑ "JONES ENJOYING "UNBELIEVABLE" EXPERIENCE AT AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2023". tennis.com.au. 23 January 2023. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
  7. ↑ "Mika Stojsavljevic rallies for Wimbledon win". East Lothian Courier. 10 July 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  8. ↑ "Hui claims US Open junior title". WTA. 10 September 2023. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
  9. ↑ "園部八奏／ストイサビレビッチはウインブルドン・ジュニア優勝ペアに競り負けジュニア女子ダブルス4強入りならず [フレンチ・オープン]". Tennis Magazine. 7 June 2024. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
  10. ↑ "園部八奏がジュニア女子シングルス3回戦敗退もダブルスで8強入り [フレンチ・オープン]". Tennis Magazine. 6 June 2024. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
  11. ↑ "Junior women's doubles players Yasao Sonobe and Reina Goto each lost in the quarterfinals". tennismagazine.jp. 13 July 2024. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
  12. ↑ "園部八奏はジュニア女子シングルス3回戦で逆転負け、五藤玲奈がダブルスで準々決勝進出 [ウインブルドン]". tennismagazine.jp. 12 July 2024. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
  13. ↑ "British teen Stojsavljevic reaches US Open junior final". BBC Sport. 6 September 2024.
  14. ↑ "Rafael Jodar, Mika Stojsavljevic win US Open junior titles". ESPN. 8 September 2024. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
  15. ↑ Evans, Richard Llewelyn (23 January 2025). "Sonobe through to Aussie Open semis as she hunts maiden Grand Slam". International Tennis Federation . Retrieved 24 January 2025.
  16. ↑ "Aussie teenage prodigy Emerson Jones suffers heartbreaking loss at Australian Open". 7news.com. 24 January 2025. Retrieved 24 January 2025.
  17. ↑ "Sonobe becomes first Japanese player to win Australian Open girls' singles". Women's Tennis Association. Retrieved 25 January 2025.
  18. ↑ Laughton, Max (23 January 2025). "Champ's flaw puts her in danger early; Aussie world junior No.1 on brink of 30-year first". Foxsports.com.au. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
  19. ↑ "Japanese teenager Sonobe fires 36 winners, upsets Yuan in WTA debut". Women's Tennis Association. Retrieved 3 February 2025.
  20. ↑ "Japan's Sonobe earns first WTA Tour win on debut in Abu Dhabi". Tennis Majors. Retrieved 3 February 2025.
  21. ↑ "Jabeur holds off rising teen Sonobe to make Abu Dhabi quarterfinals". Women's Tennis Association. Retrieved 5 February 2025.
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