Sara Saito

Sara Saito
Saito at the 2023 French Open
Country (sports) Japan
Born (2006-10-03) 3 October 2006 (age 18)
PlaysRight-handed
Prize money$103,964
Singles
Career record67–32
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 156 (22 July 2024)
Current rankingNo. 158 (21 October 2024)
Grand Slam singles results
French OpenQ3 (2024)
US OpenQ1 (2024)
Doubles
Career record9–14
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 484 (18 March 2024)
Current rankingNo. 635 (16 September 2024)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open JuniorF (2023)
French Open JuniorF (2023)
Wimbledon JuniorQF (2023)
US Open JuniorF (2023)
Last updated on: 20 October 2024.

Sara Saito (斎藤咲良, Saitō Sara, born 3 October 2006) is a Japanese tennis player. She has a career-high WTA singles ranking of world No. 156, achieved on 22 July 2024. She reached her career-high doubles ranking of No. 484 on 18 March 2024.[1]

Career

2023: Juniors

She has a career-high ITF junior combined ranking of 2, achieved on 29 May 2023.[2] She had a disappointing performance in the singles draw of the 2023 Australian Open, losing in the first round to Australian wildcard Stefani Webb.[3] She reached the final of the doubles with fellow Japanese Hayu Kinoshita, losing to Renáta Jamrichová and Federica Urgesi.[4] She was top seeded in the girls' singles tournament at the 2023 French Open, after winning two titles in South America.[5]

2024: First quarterfinal on WTA Tour debut

Saito made her WTA Tour main draw debut as a wildcard at the 2024 Japan Women's Open,[6] defeating Jéssica Bouzas Maneiro[7] and fifth seed Elina Avanesyan[8][9] to reach her first WTA Tour quarterfinal, where her run was ended in straight sets by Kimberly Birrell.[10] She entered the WTA 500 2024 Toray Pan Pacific Open as a lucky loser, making her debut at this WTA level but lost to qualifier and compatriot Sayaka Ishii.[11]

Junior Grand Slam finals

Doubles: 3 (3 runner-ups)

Result Year Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 2023 Australian Open Hard Japan Hayu Kinoshita Slovakia Renáta Jamrichová
Italy Federica Urgesi 		6–7(5–7), 6–1, [7–10]
Loss 2023 French Open Clay Alina Korneeva United States Tyra Caterina Grant
United States Clervie Ngounoue 		3–6, 2–6
Loss 2023 US Open Hard Japan Nanaka Sato Anastasiia Gureva
Romania Mara Gae 		6–1, 5–7, [8–10]

ITF Circuit finals

Singles: 4 (2 titles, 2 runner-ups)

Legend
W100 tournaments (1–0)
W75 tournaments (0–1)
W50 tournaments (0–1)
W25 tournaments (1–0)
Finals by surface
Hard (0–2)
Clay (1–0)
Carpet (1–0)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Win 1–0 Oct 2023 ITF Makinohara, Japan W25 Carpet Thailand Thasaporn Naklo 6–4, 6–3
Loss 1–1 Jan 2024 ITF Nonthaburi, Thailand W50 Hard Croatia Antonia Ružić 1–6, 3–6
Loss 1–2 Jan 2024 Burnie International,
Australia 		W75 Hard Australia Priscilla Hon 3–6, 0–6
Win 2–2 Jun 2024 Open de Biarritz, France W100 Clay France Margaux Rouvroy 5–7, 6–3, 6–3

References

  1. ^ "Sara Saito | Player Stats & More – WTA Official". Women's Tennis Association.
  2. ^ "Sara Saito". International Tennis Federation. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  3. ^ "Local girl, 17, arrives on big stage with 'surreal' Aus Open win over No.1 seed". 7NEWS. January 22, 2023.
  4. ^ "Blockx, Korneeva win Australian Open junior titles". theScore.com. Associated Press. January 28, 2023.
  5. ^ "Saito, Pacheco Mendez headline juniors draws – Roland-Garros – The 2023 Roland-Garros Tournament official site". www.rolandgarros.com.
  6. ^ "Photos: Aoi Ito and all of 2024's WTA main-draw debuts". WTATennis. 20 October 2024.
  7. ^ "On WTA debut, Japanese wild card Saito, 18, upsets Bouzas Maneiro in Osaka". Women's Tennis Association. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  8. ^ "Wild card Saito upsets Avanesyan to reach Osaka quarters on WTA debut". Women's Tennis Association. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  9. ^ "Japan Open: Fifth seed Avanesyan upset by Saito in second round". Tennis Majors. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  10. ^ "Birrell halts Saito run in Osaka to reach first WTA semifinal". Women's Tennis Association. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  11. ^ "2024 TOKYO; Teenage qualifier Ishii earns first career tour-level win in Tokyo". 22 October 2024.
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