Kenichi Hirai (平井健一, Hirai Ken'ichi, born 19 March 1950) is a Japanese former professional tennis player.

Kenichi Hirai
Country (sports) Japan
Born (1950-03-19) 19 March 1950 (age 74)
Tokyo, Japan
Singles
Career titles7–31
Highest rankingNo. 180 (29 July 1974)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open1R (1974, 1975)
Wimbledon2R (1976)
US Open1R (1971)
Doubles
Career record14–41
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open2R (1974)
French OpenQF (1974)
Wimbledon1R (1973, 1974, 1975)
US Open1R (1971)

Biography

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Hirai, who was born in Tokyo, was a six-time doubles champion at the All Japan Tennis Championships.

Debuting in 1973, Hirai featured in a total 19 Davis Cup ties for Japan and won 21 matches overall, 11 in singles and 10 in doubles.

Hirai won two medals at the 1973 Summer Universiade in Moscow, a bronze in the singles and silver in the mixed doubles.

In 1974 he became the Asian Games doubles champion with Toshiro Sakai and teamed up with the same player to reach the quarter-finals of the French Open that year.

Hirai didn't turn professional until the late 1970s.[1]

Grand Prix career finals

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Doubles: 1 (0–1)

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Result W/L Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 0–1 Jul 1974 Düsseldorf, West Germany Clay   Toshiro Sakai   Jiří Hřebec
  Jan Kodeš
1–6, 4–6

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Masters to Play Opening Match". The Canberra Times. 20 January 1978. p. 23. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
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