Wikipedia

Ayumi Morita

Ayumi Morita (森田 あゆみ, Morita Ayumi, born 11 March 1990[1]) is a Japanese former professional tennis player. She reached a career-high ranking of No. 40 in the world in October 2011. At junior level, she reached a combined career-high ranking of No. 3.

Ayumi Morita
森田 あゆみ
Morita during the 2015 Wimbledon Qualifying
Country (sports) Japan
ResidenceŌta, Japan
Born (1990-03-11) 11 March 1990 (age 34)
Ōta
Height1.64 m (5 ft 5 in)
Turned pro2005
Retired2023
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed both sides)
Prize moneyUS$ 1,682,518
Official websitehttp://ayumi-morita.com
Singles
Career record295–241
Career titles10 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 40 (3 October 2011)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open3R (2011, 2013)
French Open2R (2011, 2012)
Wimbledon2R (2010, 2012)
US Open2R (2012)
Doubles
Career record75–68
Career titles3 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 65 (9 February 2009)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open3R (2012)
French Open2R (2013)
Wimbledon3R (2011)
US Open2R (2010)
Team competitions
Fed Cup23–14

Morita is known for strong and consistent two-handed groundstrokes which she hits very flat. She was also regarded as very tough mentally for a young player, often showing great resolve to win close matches despite a lackluster serve.[citation needed] Morita was a small and quick player with excellent footwork and movement around the court.

Morita is one of the most successful Fed Cup players of recent times with a 23–14 match win-loss record for Japan.

Career

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On September 16, 2008, she beat world No. 19, Ágnes Szávay, in three sets in the Pan Pacific Open.[2]

In January 2009, Morita upset former Wimbledon quarterfinalist Michaëlla Krajicek in the final round of qualifying to reach the main draw of the Auckland Open. She faced third set deficits in all three of her qualifying matches, including a 4–1 deficit in her first match against Katie O'Brien.

2011

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Her first tournament of the season was the Auckland Open. She faced Romanian teenager Simona Halep and lost in straight sets despite recovering from being two breaks down in the second set. Her next tournament was the Hobart International. She beat Akgul Amanmuradova. Her next opponent was Bethanie Mattek-Sands, to whom she lost in two sets. Ayumi played at the Australian Open where she defeated No. 27 seed Alexandra Dulgheru in two sets. She defeated wildcard Caroline Garcia in the second round but lost to Peng Shuai in the third.

Into the Dubai Championships, Morita qualified by defeating Sophie Lefèvre and Vesna Manasieva. In the first round of the main draw, she defeated No. 14 seed Petra Kvitová in two tiebreaks. Before the match, Kvitová had only lost once in 2011 and had already won two titles. Morita beat wildcard Sania Mirza in the second round, before losing to Caroline Wozniacki in the third.

2013

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Morita at the 2013 Wimbledon Championships

Morita began her season at the first edition of the Shenzhen Open where she lost in the second round to sixth seed Peng Shuai.[3] After qualifying for the Sydney International, Morita reached the second round where she was defeated by fourth-seeded Li Na.[4] Ranked 72 at the Australian Open, Morita reached the third round with straight-set victories over Anna Tatishvili and Annika Beck. She lost her third-round match to the third seed, Serena Williams.[5]

In Thailand at the Pattaya Open, Morita upset top seed, Ana Ivanovic, in the first round.[6] She then beat Kimiko Date-Krumm to advance to the quarterfinals[7] in which she was defeated by Nina Bratchikova.[8] During the Fed Cup tie versus Russia, Morita won both of her rubbers over Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina. Russia ended up winning 3-2.[9] Morita retired from her second round of qualifying match at the Dubai Championships to Zheng Jie. Seeded fourth at the Malaysian Open, Morita lost in the semifinal round to eventual champion Karolína Plíšková.[10] In Indian Wells, Morita was defeated in the first round by qualifier Lesia Tsurenko. At the Miami Open, she made it to the third round by defeating Heather Watson and 31st seed Yanina Wickmayer. She lost her third-round match to top seed and eventual champion, Serena Williams.[11] Seeded eighth at the Monterrey Open, Morita was defeated in her quarterfinal match by top seed and eventual finalist, Angelique Kerber.[12] Playing in the Fed Cup tie versus Spain, Morita lost both of her matches to Sílvia Soler Espinosa and Carla Suárez Navarro. Spain won 4-0.[13]

Morita began her clay-court season at the Portugal Open where she was defeated in her quarterfinal match by defending champion Kaia Kanepi.[14] Morita retired during her first-round match at the Madrid Open against Sorana Cîrstea due to a left abductor strain. She returned to action at the Italian Open where she made it to the third round beating Sorana Cîrstea and Urszula Radwańska. She retired from her third-round match against third seed Victoria Azarenka, again due to injury.[15] Ranked 44 at the French Open, Morita lost in the first round to Yulia Putintseva.[16]

Beginning her grass-court season at the Birmingham Classic, she was defeated in the first round by qualifier Alison Van Uytvanck.[17] At the Rosmalen Open, Morita lost in the first round to Sofia Arvidsson.[18] Ranked 50 at the Wimbledon Championships, she was again defeated in the first round, by Marina Erakovic.[19]

Starting her US Open Series at the Silicon Valley Classic, Morita lost in round one to fifth seed Sorana Cîrstea.[20] At the Southern California Open, she was defeated in the first round by Laura Robson.[21] Advancing to the main draw as a lucky loser at the Rogers Cup, she lost to American Varvara Lepchenko.[22] In Cincinnati at the Western & Southern Open, Morita was defeated in the first round of qualifying by Alison Riske.[23] After qualifying for the New Haven Open at Yale, Morita retired during her first-round match against Elena Vesnina due to a low back injury.[24] The low back injury caused her to withdraw from the US Open.[25]

In Tokyo at the Pan Pacific Open, Morita beat Laura Robson in her first-round match.[26] She lost in the second round to sixth seed Jelena Janković.[27] At the Japan Women's Open, Morita was defeated in the first round by Luksika Kumkhum.[28] Seeded fourth at the Nanjing Ladies Open, Morita made it to the final where she retired against third seed Zhang Shuai due to a left hamstring injury.[29] Morita played her final tournament of the season at the Taipei Open. Seeded fourth, she lost in the first round to Yaroslava Shvedova.[30]

Morita ended the year ranked 61.

2014

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Morita during the 2014 Wimbledon qualifying

Morita started her 2014 season at the Auckland Open. She upset sixth seed Lucie Šafářová in the first round.[31] In the second round, she lost to compatriot Kurumi Nara.[32] At the Sydney International, she retired during her first qualifying match against Tsvetana Pironkova due to injury.[33] Ranked 61 at the Australian Open, Morita was defeated in the second round by eighth seed Jelena Janković.[34]

In Mexico at the Monterrey Open, she retired during her second-round clash against sixth seed Magdaléna Rybáriková due to dizziness.[35] Seeded eighth at the Malaysian Open, she lost in the first round to qualifier Lyudmyla Kichenok.[36]

2023: Retirement

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In August 2023, Morita announced her retirement from tennis.[37]

Grand Slam performance timelines

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Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# DNQ A NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (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.

Singles

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Tournament 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 W–L
Australian Open A A 1R 1R 3R 1R 3R 2R A 5–6
French Open A 1R 1R 1R 2R 2R 1R A A 2–6
Wimbledon 1R A 1R 2R 1R 2R 1R A Q1 2–6
US Open A A 1R 1R 1R 2R A A A 1–4
Win–loss 0–1 0–1 0–4 1–4 3–4 3–4 2–3 1–1 0–0 10–22

Doubles

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Tournament 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 W–L
Australian Open A 2R A 2R 3R 1R 4–4
French Open A 1R A 1R 1R 2R 1–4
Wimbledon 1R 1R 2R 3R 1R 1R 3–6
US Open A 1R 2R 2R A A 2–3
Win–loss 0–1 1–4 2–2 4–4 2–3 1–3 10–17

WTA Tour finals

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Doubles: 2 (runner-ups)

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Legend
Grand Slam
WTA 1000
WTA 500
Tier III / WTA 250 (0–2)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 0–1 Oct 2007 Bangkok Open, Thailand Tier III Hard   Junri Namigata   Sun Tiantian
  Yan Zi 		w/o
Loss 0–2 Sep 2008 Japan Open Championships Tier III Hard   Aiko Nakamura   Jill Craybas
  Marina Erakovic 		6–4, 5–7, [6–10]

WTA Challenger finals

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Singles: 1 (runner-up)

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Result Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Loss Nov 2013 Nanjing Ladies Open, China Hard   Zhang Shuai 4–6, ret.

ITF Circuit finals

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Legend
$100,000 tournaments
$75,000 tournaments
$50,000 tournaments
$25,000 tournaments
$15,000 tournaments

Singles: 19 (10 titles, 9 runner-ups)

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Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 May 2005 Fukuoka International, Japan 50,000 Grass   Chan Yung-jan 3–6, 2–6
Loss 0–2 May 2006 Fukuoka International, Japan 50,000 Grass   Chan Yung-jan 3–6, 6–4, 1–6
Win 1–2 Aug 2006 ITF Tokachi, Japan 25,000 Carpet   Erika Takao 6–3, 4–6, 7–6(6)
Win 2–2 Sep 2006 ITF Tokyo Open, Japan 50,000 Hard   Chan Yung-jan 3–6, 6–3, 6–4
Loss 2–3 May 2007 Kangaroo Cup Gifu, Japan 50,000 Hard   Chan Yung-jan 3–6, 1–6
Loss 2–4 Jun 2007 Surbiton Trophy, United Kingdom 25,000 Grass   Brenda Schultz-McCarthy 6–4, 4–6, 6–7(5)
Win 3–4 Jul 2007 Kurume Cup, Japan 25,000 Grass   Erika Takao 6–1, 3–1 ret.
Loss 3–5 Aug 2007 ITF Obihiro, Japan 25,000 Carpet   Sophie Ferguson 4–6, 3–6
Win 4–5 Nov 2008 ITF Tokyo Open, Japan 50,000 Hard   Jarmila Gajdošová 6–2, 2–6, 6–3
Win 5–5 Nov 2008 ITF Kolkata, India 50,000 Hard   Elora Dabija 6–3, 6–1
Win 6–5 Nov 2008 Toyota World Challenge, Japan 75,000 Carpet (i)   Ksenia Lykina 6–1, 6–3
Loss 6–6 Nov 2009 Taipei Open, Taiwan 100,000 Carpet (i)   Chan Yung-jan 4–6, 6–2, 2–6
Win 7–6 Oct 2010 Toyota World Challenge, Japan 100,000 Carpet (i)   Jill Craybas 6–3, 7–5
Loss 7–7 Nov 2010 Taipei Open, Taiwan 100,000 Carpet (i)   Peng Shuai 1–6, 4–6
Win 8–7 Oct 2011 Taipei Open, Taiwan 100,000 Carpet (i)   Kimiko Date-Krumm 6–2, 6–2
Loss 8–8 Nov 2021 ITF Monastir, Tunisia 15,000 Hard   Sonay Kartal 1–6, 2–6
Loss 8–9 Feb 2022 ITF Monastir, Tunisia 15,000 Hard   Haruna Arakawa w/o
Win 9–9 May 2022 ITF Monastir, Tunisia 15,000 Hard   Yao Xinxin 7–6(4), 7–5
Win 10–9 May 2022 ITF Monastir, Tunisia 15,000 Hard   Milana Zhabrailova 7–5, 6–0

Doubles: 7 (3 titles, 4 runner-ups)

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Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 0–1 Jul 2005 Kurume Cup, Japan 25,000 Grass   Erika Sema   Chan Chin-wei
  Hsieh Su-wei 		4–6, 3–6
Loss 0–2 Feb 2006 ITF Sydney, Australia 25,000 Hard   Junri Namigata   Chan Yung-jan
  Chuang Chia-jung 		2–6, 1–6
Loss 0–3 Feb 2007 ITF Melbourne, Australia 25,000 Clay   Natsumi Hamamura   Hwang I-hsuan
  Lee Ye-ra 		2–6, 1–6
Win 1–3 May 2007 Kangaroo Cup Gifu, Japan 50,000 Hard   Ai Sugiyama   Kumiko Iijima
  Seiko Okamoto 		6–1, 3–6, 6–0
Win 2–3 May 2007 Fukuoka International, Japan 50,000 Grass   Akiko Yonemura   Rika Fujiwara
  Junri Namigata 		6–2, 6–2
Loss 2–4 Aug 2007 ITF Obihiro, Japan 25,000 Carpet   Akiko Yonemura   Kumiko Iijima
  Junri Namigata 		6–7(3), 0–6
Win 3–4 Oct 2009 ITF Tokyo Open, Japan 100,000 Hard   Chan Yung-jan   Kimiko Date-Krumm
  Rika Fujiwara 		6–2, 6–4

References

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  1. ^ "Ayumi Morita – News and More". Tennis-X. Retrieved 2008-09-22.
  2. ^ McKirdy, Andrew (2008-09-17). "Morita upsets Svazay". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2008-09-22.
  3. ^ "Li starts Shenzhen Open with easy victory". 1 January 2013. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  4. ^ "WTA Sydney - Radwanska and Li Na remain unbeaten in 2013". 8 January 2013. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  5. ^ "Serena Williams beats Morita to advance to 4th round at Australian Open". 18 January 2013. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  6. ^ "Ayumi Morita knocks out top-seeded Ana Ivanovic". 31 January 2013. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  7. ^ "WTA Pattaya - Ayumi Morita wins two matches to reach quarter finals". 1 February 2013. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  8. ^ Oddo, Chris (1 February 2013). "Kirilenko, Lisicki Reach Pattaya Semis". www.tennisnow.com. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  9. ^ "MAKAROVA MARCHES RUSSIA THROUGH". 10 February 2013. Archived from the original on 10 April 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  10. ^ "American Mattek-Sands in Malaysian Open final". 2 March 2013. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  11. ^ "Serena Williams beats traffic, opponent at Sony Open". 24 March 2013. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  12. ^ "Angelique Kerber storms into the semi-finals". 6 April 2013. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  13. ^ "Spain beats Japan 4-0 in Fed Cup WG playoff". 21 April 2013. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  14. ^ "Kanepi back in Portugal Open tennis semifinals". 2 May 2013. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  15. ^ "Tennis - Victoria Azarenka to clash with Samantha Stosur in Rome quarters". 17 May 2013. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  16. ^ "French Open: Venus Williams loses to Urszula Radwanska". 26 May 2013. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  17. ^ "Anne Keothavong loses to Alison Riske in Aegon Classic first round". 10 June 2013. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  18. ^ "Express farewell to the defender of the Ferrer title in Hertogenbosch!". 18 June 2013. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  19. ^ "Tennis: Erakovic into Wimbledon second round". 26 June 2013. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  20. ^ "Keys Earns Upset & Cirstea Wins 1st Match At Bank Of The West Classic". 22 July 2013. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  21. ^ "Laura Robson & Heather Watson win hard-court season openers". 31 July 2013. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  22. ^ Gunn, Frank (5 August 2013). "Stephens moves on to second round of Rogers Cup women's tournament". www.theglobeandmail.com. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  23. ^ Ong, Erwin (10 August 2013). "TOP SEEDS, AMERICAN WILDCARDS FALL IN QUALIES". www.wsopen.com. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  24. ^ "Tennis: Morita Withdraws From New Haven Open". 21 August 2013. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  25. ^ "Tennis - Japan´s Ayumi Morita withdraws from the US Open". 26 August 2013. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  26. ^ "Toray Pan Pacific Open: Laura Robson loses at first hurdle in Tokyo". 23 September 2013. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  27. ^ "Venus silences Azarenka in Tokyo". 24 September 2013. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  28. ^ "Sabine Lisicki advances into the second round of the HP Open". 9 October 2013. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  29. ^ "Zhang Shuai wins second WTA title at Nanjing Ladies Open". 3 November 2013. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  30. ^ "Solovyeva stuns top seed Date-Krumm in Taipei". 7 November 2013. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  31. ^ Shannon, Kris (1 January 2014). "Tennis: Top seed out of Classic as big names depart early". www.nzherald.co.nz. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  32. ^ "Tennis: Normal service resumes at ASB Classic". 1 January 2014. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  33. ^ "Bulgarian Pironkova Defeats Morita in Sydney Qualifiers". 3 January 2014. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  34. ^ KALINIC, DEJAN (16 January 2014). "Australian Open 2014: Maria Sharapova survives scare on sweltering Day 4". www.sportingnews.com. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  35. ^ "Monterrey Open: Ana Ivanovic brushes aside Aleksandra Wozniak". 4 April 2014. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  36. ^ "PLISKOVA SISTERS ADVANCE TO SECOND ROUND IN KUALA LUMPUR". 15 April 2014. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  37. ^ "Ayumi Morita announces retirement from tennis". Women's Tennis Association. 7 August 2023. Archived from the original on 8 August 2023. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
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