Ai Sugiyama

Japanese professional tennis player Ai Sugiyama won four Grand Slam titles during her career, becoming the world number one doubles player in October 2000, and the world number eight singles player in February 2004. Sugiyama played in 62 consecutive appearances in the main draw at Grand Slams, a record for any player until it was surpassed by Roger Federer in 2015. She played on Japan’s Fed Cup team from 1995 to 2009, competed at four successive Olympic Games, and earned more than $8 million in prize money.

Sugiyama won her first WTA doubles title at the 1994 Japan Open with her partner Mami Donoshiro. From January 1995 to June 2009 Sugiyama won a further 37 WTA doubles titles with multiple partners including Kyoko Nagatsuka, Yelena Likhovtseva, Julie Halard-Decugis, Kim Clijsters, Daniela Hantuchová, and Katarina Srebotnik. Sugiyama also won six WTA singles titles from April 1997 to January 2004.

Sugiyama won her first Grand Slam doubles title at the 2000 US Open with Julie Halard-Decugis as her partner. In 2003 Sugiyama won the French Open and Wimbledon with Kim Clijsters partnering her on both occasions. Sugiyama was a seven-time doubles runner-up, reaching the finals at Wimbledon (2000–01, 2004, 2007), the French Open (2006–07), and the 2009 Australian Open. She also won the mixed doubles title at the 1999 US Open with Mahesh Bhupathi.

Sugiyama won two gold medals at the 1994 Asian Games with victories in the doubles and team events. She competed in the singles and doubles at four consecutive Olympic Games; 1996 Atlanta, 2000 Sydney, 2004 Athína, and 2008 Beijing. Her best performances came at the Athína Games when she reached the singles quarter-finals, and narrowly missed out on a medal in the doubles, finishing in fourth place with Shinobu Asagoe.