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Ena Shibahara
Ena Shibahara (柴原 瑛菜, Shibahara Ena, born 12 February 1998) is an American-born Japanese professional tennis player who specializes in doubles.[1] She reached her career-high rankings of world No. 4 in doubles and No. 132 in singles, and has won eleven doubles titles on the WTA Tour, including two WTA 1000, the 2021 Miami Open and the 2023 National Bank Open. Shibahara won her first Grand Slam at the 2022 French Open, alongside Wesley Koolhof in mixed doubles. Partnering with Shuko Aoyama, she reached the women's doubles finals at the 2023 Australian Open, in addition to the semifinals at the 2021 Wimbledon Championships, the 2022 Australian Open, and at the 2021 WTA Finals. She made her Billie Jean King Cup debut for Japan in 2020, and also participated in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Until July 2019, Shibahara represented her country of birth, the United States. College careerIn 2016, she graduated from Palos Verdes Peninsula High School and attended UCLA before turning pro after her sophomore season.[2] Professional career2016: Grand Slam debut_(29569477270).jpg) Shibahara made her Grand Slam main-draw debut at the US Open in the girls' doubles draw, partnering with Jada Hart as a wildcard. Shibahara and Hart then won the US Open girls' doubles title. The pair also entered with wildcards the women’s doubles event in which they lost in the first round. 2019: Focus on doubles, partnership with Shuko AoyamaShibahara played her first five doubles tournaments of the year with Hayley Carter winning two titles and reaching another final. This raised her doubles ranking from 205 at the beginning of the year to an entry into the top 100, with a ranking of 98 on May 20.[3] Shibahara then played tournaments with eight other partners before playing her first tournament with Shuko Aoyama in August at the Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose, where they reached the final. Shibahara said, "Our chemistry was spot on from the beginning, where I would set her up from the baseline and she just moves all over the net[4]". Shibahara and Aoyama played five more tournaments together in 2019, winning their first two titles at the Tianjin Open (Shibahara's first WTA Tour-level title) and Kremlin Cup in Moscow.[citation needed] By the end of the year, Shibahara's WTA doubles ranking was 31.[citation needed] In singles, she started the year playing a mixture of ITF and WTA Challenger tournaments. Following a quarterfinal result at the $100k Vancouver Open, her ranking reached a career-high (so far) of 416, on August 19.[3] Following this, Shibahara focused mainly on doubles.[citation needed] 2020–2021: WTA 1000 title, Olympics, Grand Slam & WTA Finals semifinal
Partnering Aoyama, she won her maiden WTA 1000 title at the 2021 Miami Open, reached the semifinals at Wimbledon, participated in the Tennis at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Japan and reached the semifinals of the WTA Finals. She won seven more titles, five being at the WTA 500 level, during her successful partnership with Aoyama. 2022: Maiden mixed-doubles title, world No. 4 in doublesAt the Australian Open, she reached the semifinals of a major for the second time in her career, partnering again with Shuko Aoyama.[citation needed] Later, she set a new career-high ranking of No. 4, on 21 March 2022, after making the Indian Wells Open final where she partnered with Asia Muhammad.[citation needed] At the French Open, she won the first major title of her career in mixed doubles, partnering with Wesley Koolhof.[5] She became the first Japanese player in 25 years to win the mixed doubles championship in Paris, since Rika Hiraki and Mahesh Bhupathi took home the title in 1997.[6] 2023: Australian finalist & Canadian champion in doubles, WTA 1000 debut in singlesAt the Australian Open, she reached the semifinals of a major for the third time in her career, partnering again with Shuko Aoyama. The pair defeated second-seeded pair of Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula to reach their first Grand Slam final.[7] However, they were defeated in straight sets by defending champions, Krejčíková and Siniaková.[8][9] She won her ninth title at the Rosmalen Open[10] and her first WTA 1000 title at the Canadian Open, partnering Aoyama.[11] She qualified for the singles main draw of the WTA 1000 2023 Guadalajara Open Akron but lost to Karolina Pliskova.[12] In doubles, the pair Shibahara and Aoyama qualified for the 2023 WTA Finals for the second time.[citation needed] 2024: First WTA Tour wins, Grand Slam and top 150 debuts in singlesAfter entering the main draw as a lucky loser, Shibahara won her first WTA Tour singles main draw match, when she defeated Tamara Korpatsch in three sets in the first round at the WTA 250 Prague Open, her second career victory over a Top 100 player.[13] She also made her Grand Slam debut in singles at the 2024 US Open, after qualifying into the main draw.[14][15] She recorded her first singles win at a Grand Slam over Australian Daria Saville, before losing to world no. 1, Iga Swiatek in the second round in straight sets.[16] She also qualified for the main draw at the WTA 500 2024 Guadalajara Open for the second time and defeated another Australian and fellow qualifier Kimberly Birrell, for her second WTA Tour win.[17][18] She won her 11th doubles title at the 2024 Japan Women's Open in Osaka partnering Laura Siegemund.[19] Shibahara and Siegemund were runners-up at the Pan Pacific Open, losing to Shuko Aoyama and Eri Hozumi in the final.[20] Performance timeline
(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, Billie Jean King Cup and Olympic Games are included in win–loss records and career statistics. DoublesCurrent through the 2023 Indian Wells Open.
Mixed doubles
Grand Slam tournament finalsWomen's doubles: 1 (runner-up)
Mixed doubles: 1 (title)
Other significant finalsWTA 1000 tournamentsDoubles: 3 (2 titles, 1 runner-up)
WTA Tour finalsDoubles: 18 (11 titles, 7 runner-ups)
WTA Challenger finalsDoubles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner–up)
ITF Circuit finalsSingles: 3 (1 title, 2 runner-up)
Doubles: 9 (7 titles, 2 runner–ups)
Junior Grand Slam finalsGirls' doubles: 1 (title)
Notes
References
External links
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