Shuko Aoyama (青山 修子, Aoyama Shūko, born 19 December 1987) is a Japanese professional tennis player who specializes in doubles.
Aoyama turned professional after graduating from Waseda University. She reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 182, on 9 February 2015, and a doubles ranking of world No. 4, on 28 February 2022. She plays predominantly in doubles and has won 20 titles on the WTA Tour,[2] having had her most successful Grand Slam appearances at the 2023 Australian Open final and at Wimbledon, reaching the semifinals at the 2013[3] and 2021 tournaments. She has also won four singles and 30 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit.
Personal life and background
Aoyama started playing tennis at age 9. Her favorite surface is grass. She studied at Waseda University in Japan.[4]
Professional career
2007–12: First steps, first WTA Tour title in doubles
Aoyama made her ITF Women's Circuit debut in the doubles event at Gifu in 2007. In March 2009, she won her first ITF title at the $10k Kōfu doubles event. In June 2010, she won her first singles ITF title at Tokyo. In October 2010 at the Japan Women's Open, she made her WTA Tour main-draw debut. She failed to qualify in singles and had more success in doubles, reaching her first WTA Tour final. In late November 2010, she won the $75k Toyota doubles event. In June 2011, she made her WTA Tour singles debut at the Birmingham Classic as a qualifier. At the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, she made her major debut in doubles. At the 2012 Washington Open, she won her first career title in doubles. In September 2012 she won the $100k Ningbo Challenger. During the 2012 season, she also won two $50k events, the Lexington Challenger and the Bronx Open.[citation needed]
2013–16: More success in doubles, Wimbledon semifinalist
As time passed, Aoyama became mainly a doubles player, playing in doubles events preferentially to singles. She made a strong start into the 2013 season reaching the semifinal in the first week of January at the Shenzhen Open. Soon after, she won her first Grand Slam match at the Australian Open, but then lost in the second round playing with Irina Falconi. In March, she won the Malaysian Open with Chang Kai-chen. She also had a strong start into the grass-court season, reaching the semifinals at the Rosmalen Championships. She achieved more success at Wimbledon, when she and Chanelle Scheepers reached semifinals. This was her first significant Grand Slam result.[5] In the semifinal match, they lost to Hsieh Su-wei and Peng Shuai. In September, she won the Washington Open for the second year in a row. At the end of the year, she reached semifinals of the Korea Open and won the Toyota World Challenge.[citation needed]
Aoyama continued the partnership with Shibihara for the tournaments at the beginning of the year in Australia. At the Australian Open, they improved on their quarterfinal result the previous year by reaching the semifinal. Following this result, Aoyama reached her highest doubles ranking of world No. 4, on 28 February 2022.[citation needed]
Her final competition was at the Billie Jean King Cup where Aoyama partnered with Shibahara once again. They won each of the six doubles matches they played.[citation needed]
2023: Australian Open finalist, 30th tour final, Canadian champion, back to top 10
At the Australian Open, she reached the finals of a major for the fourth time in her career, again with Shibahara. The pair defeated second-seeded pair of Americans Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula in the semifinal to reach their first major final.[6] However, they were defeated in straight sets by defending champions Krejčíková and Siniaková.[7][8]
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.
Only main-draw results in WTA Tour, Grand Slam tournaments, Fed Cup/Billie Jean King Cup and Olympic Games are included in win–loss records.[citation needed]
^The first Premier 5 event of the year has switched back and forth between the Dubai Tennis Championships and the Qatar Ladies Open since 2009. Dubai was classified as a Premier 5 event from 2009 to 2011 before being succeeded by Doha for the 2012–2014 period. In 2015, Dubai regained its Premier 5 status while Doha was demoted to Premier status. The Premier 5 tournaments were reclassified as WTA 1000 tournaments in 2021.