Sony Ericsson WTA Tour

JANUARY - Fell 1r at Auckland (as WC, l. to Craybas); fell 1r at Australian Open (as qualifier, l. to No.25 seed Kanepi 86 third set; was first Grand Slam event since 1996 US Open).

FEBRUARY - Fell 1r at Pattaya City (l. to No.8 seed Rybarikova in 3s).

MARCH - Played on ITF Circuit.

APRIL - Won ITF/Monzon-ESP singles title.

MAY - Fell 1r at Estoril (l. to No.3 seed Cirstea in 3s); fell in Roland Garros qualifying.

JUNE - Fell 1r at Wimbledon (as WC, l. to No.9 seed Wozniacki in 3s).

JULY - Did not play.

AUGUST - Fell 1r at Los Angeles (as qualifier, l. to No.17 seed Lisicki 75 third set); fell in US Open qualifying.

SEPTEMBER - Fell 1r at Guangzhou (l. to top seed Medina Garrigues in 3s); won eighth Tour singles title (and first in over 12 years) at Seoul (d. No.5 seed Kleybanova and top seed Hantuchova en route to final, then d. No.2 seed Medina Garrigues for title; at 38y/11m/30d, was second-oldest player in Open Era to win a Tour singles title after Billie Jean King, who won 1983 Birmingham at 39y/7m/23d); returned to Top 100 afterwards on September 28 (rose from No.155 to No.100; first time in Top 100 since retiring in 1996); fell 1r at Tokyo (as WC, l. to Wozniak 57 76(2) 64; led 75 52).

OCTOBER - Fell 1r at Osaka (as WC, l. to Craybas in 3s).

NOVEMBER - Reached SF at Bali (qualified for SF w/1-1 RR record; l. to top seed Bartoli in SF).

1988 - Played first events of career on ITF Circuit in Japan, winning two singles titles and two doubles titles; first appeared on rankings on November 21 (No.321).

1989 - Played first five Tour main draws, reaching two QF and making Grand Slam debuts at Roland Garros (as LL), Wimbledon (as qualifier) and US Open; won three singles titles and two doubles titles on ITF Circuit.

1990 - First season played exclusively on Tour; reached two more QF and first Grand Slam 4r in Australian Open debut (l. to Sukova); made Top 100 debut on January 8 (rose from No.119 to No.90).

1991 - Reached first Tour singles final at Los Angeles, finishing runner-up (as qualifier, d. No.3 Sabatini en route for first Top 10 win; l. to Seles); made Top 50 debut on August 12 (rose from No.112 to No.32 after Los Angeles).

1992 - Won first Tour singles title at Tokyo [Japan Open] (d. Appelmans in final); SF twice, at Tokyo [Pan Pacific] (d. No.5 Sánchez-Vicario en route; l. to Sabatini) and Osaka (l. to Sukova); QF once; made Top 20 debut on April 13 (rose from No.25 to No.17).

1993 - Won second Tour singles title at Tokyo [Japan Open] (d. Rottier in final); runner-up twice, at Osaka (l. to Novotna) and Tokyo [Nichirei] (l. to Coetzer); SF at Miami (d. No.7 Fernandez en route; l. to Sánchez-Vicario); reached first Grand Slam QF at US Open (d. No.10 Huber and No.8 Novotna en route; l. to Maleeva-Fragnière).

1994 - Won third and fourth Tour singles titles at Sydney (d. No.4 Martínez in QF and No.7 Fernandez in final) and Tokyo [Japan Open] (d. Frazier in final); SF four times, incl. first Grand Slam SF at Australian Open (d. No.4 Martínez en route; l. to Graf), Strasbourg (l. to Fernandez), Montréal (l. to Sánchez-Vicario) and Tour Championships (d. No.3 Martínez en route; l. to Sabatini); QF twice, incl. US Open (l. to Sánchez-Vicario); made Top 10 debut on January 17 (rose from No.13 to No.9 after Sydney), becoming first Japanese ever to crack Top 10, now one of two (Sugiyama).

1995 - Won fifth Tour singles title at Tokyo [Pan Pacific] (d. No.4 Martínez in QF and No.6 Davenport in final); runner-up three times, at Miami (d. No.7 Sabatini en route; l. to Graf), Tokyo [Japan Open] (l. to Frazier) and Strasbourg (l. to Davenport); SF twice, at Sydney (ret. vs. Davenport) and second Grand Slam SF at Roland Garros (d. No.6 Davenport en route; l. to Sánchez-Vicario); QF four times, incl. Wimbledon (l. to Novotna) and Tour Championships (l. to Huber).

1996 - Won seventh and eighth Tour singles titles at Tokyo [Japan Open] (d. Frazier in final) and San Diego (d. No.3 Martínez in SF and No.2 Sánchez-Vicario in final); SF four times, at Sydney (l. to Davenport), Indian Wells (l. to Martínez), Wimbledon (d. No.2 Martínez en route; l. to Graf) and Tokyo [Nichirei] (l. to Seles); QF four times, incl. Olympics (l. to Sánchez-Vicario) and Tour Championships (l. to Hingis in last match before retirement); notched wins over No.1 Graf and No.5 Huber in Fed Cup earlier in year (bringing career tally to 18 career Top 10 wins); announced on September 24 that she would retire at end of season; when taken off rankings on December 23, 1996, was ranked No.8, having spent 149 non-consecutive weeks in Top 10 (all in 153-week span between January 17, 1994 and December 23, 1996).

1997-2007 - Only appearance came in doubles at Tokyo [Princess Cup] in September 2002 (as WC w/Saeki, ret. vs. top seeds Black/Likhovtseva in 1r w/left Achilles tendon injury).

2008 - Came out of retirement in May (had announced return to competition on April 6); initially played on ITF Circuit (would win three singles titles and two doubles titles during season); played two Tour events in fall, falling in qualifying at Tokyo [Pan Pacific] (as WC) and in 1r at Tokyo [Japan Open] (as WC).

SINGLES
Winner (8): 2009 - Seoul, ITF/Monzon-ESP; 2008 - ITF/Tokyo-JPN, ITF/Miyazaki-JPN, ITF/Obihiro-JPN; 1996 - Tokyo [Japan Open], San Diego; 1995 - Tokyo [Pan Pacific]; 1994 - Sydney, Tokyo [Japan Open]; 1993 - Tokyo [Japan Open]; 1992 - Tokyo [Japan Open]; 1989 - ITF/Sutton-GBR, ITF/Lee-on-Sol-GBR, ITF/Queens 2-GBR; 1988 - ITF/Matsuyama-JPN, ITF/Kyoto-JPN.
Finalist (6): 1995 - Miami, Tokyo [Japan Open], Strasbourg; 1993 - Osaka, Tokyo [Nichirei]; 1991 - Los Angeles.

DOUBLES
Winner (1): 2008 - ITF/Gifu-JPN (w/Nara), ITF/Tokyo 3-JPN (w/Fujiwara); 1996 - Tokyo [Japan Open] (w/Sugiyama); 1989 - ITF/Sutton-GBR, ITF/Queens 2-GBR (both w/Okada); 1988 - ITF/Ibaraki-JPN, ITF/Matsuyama-JPN (both w/Hosoki).
Finalist (2): 2009 - Guangzhou (w/Sun); 1992 - Tokyo [Japan Open] (w/Rehe).

ADDITIONAL
Japanese Fed Cup Team, 1989-92, 94-96; Japanese Olympic Team, 1992, 1996.

Lives in Tokyo with husband, German race car driver Michael Krumm ... Started playing at age 6 after being introduced by her parents...Hitting partner was Katsuhori Nishijima; Japanese Federation coaches traveled with her on Tour ... Parents are Juichi, Masako (both play tennis); siblings are Ryusuke, Junko ... Was tennis champion at Sonoda High School, from which she graduated in 1989 ... Left-handed; encouraged to play right-handed to follow Japanese custom.

- At 38y/11m/30d, became second-oldest player in Open Era to win a Tour singles title (oldest was Billie Jean King, who won 1983 Birmingham at 39y/7m/23d).
- Received Tour Most Improved Player Award in 1992.