Yosuke Watanuki

Yosuke Watanuki (綿貫 陽介, Watanuki Yōsuke, born 12 April 1998) is a Japanese tennis player.[1] He has a career-high ATP ranking of World No. 107 achieved on 3 April 2023 and a doubles ranking of No. 374 achieved on 7 January 2019. He is currently the No. 3 Japanese player.[2]

Yosuke Watanuki
綿貫 陽介
Watanuki in 2018
Country (sports) Japan
ResidenceSaitama, Japan
Born (1998-04-12) 12 April 1998
Saitama, Japan
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Turned proJanuary 2016
PlaysRight-handed (two handed-backhand)
CoachYusuke Watanuki
Prize money$569,669
Singles
Career record10–12
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 107 (3 April 2023)
Current rankingNo. 111 (8 May 2023)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open2R (2023)
French OpenQ1 (2019, 2020, 2023)
WimbledonQ3 (2019)
US OpenQ2 (2019)
Doubles
Career record1–2
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 374 (7 January 2019)
Last updated on: 8 May 2023.

Juniors

On the junior tour, Watanuki has a career high combined ranking of No. 2 achieved on 21 March 2016. Watanuki was the winner of the 2016 Campeonato Internacional Juvenil de Tenis de Porto Alegre, a Grade A event in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

Professional career

2018-19: ATP & ATP 500 debuts & first win, Maiden Challenger title

He made his ATP and ATP 500 debut at the 2018 Citi Open after qualifying.

Watanuki first main draw match victory on the ATP Tour came at the 2018 Rakuten Japan Open over Robin Haase as a qualifier.[3]

He won his maiden title at the 2019 Kobe Challenger.[4]

2021-22: ATP quarterfinal, Two Challenger titles, Top 150

Watanuki entered the 2021 Winston-Salem Open as a lucky loser and won his first match against Jaume Munar. He lost to Marton Fucsovics in the second round.

He reached the quarterfinals of an ATP tournament for the first time in his career, winning his first two matches in a row at this level, as a lucky loser at the 2022 ATP Lyon Open. First he defeated eight seed Pedro Martinez for his second top-50 win.[5] Next he defeated Kwon Soon-woo[6] to setup a quarterfinal with Alex de Minaur.[7] As a result he returned to the top 225 in the rankings climbing 40 positions in the rankings at world No. 223 on 23 May 2022.

He qualified for his third ATP 500 at the 2022 Citi Open in Washington D.C. and second time at this tournament, but lost to Kyle Edmund who was playing his first singles match after his comeback.[8]

In November he won two back-to-back titles in Japan at the Hyogo Noah Challenger in Kobe and in Yokkaichi defeating Frederico Ferreira Silva in both and moved into the top 150 at world No. 145 on 28 November 2022.[9]

2023: Grand Slam & Masters debuts and first wins, top 110

In January, Watanuki qualified for the 2023 Australian Open to make his Grand Slam debut.[10][11] He beat Arthur Rinderknech in the first round in straight sets for his first Major win before losing to Sebastian Korda.[12]

Watanuki qualified for his first Masters 1000 2023 Miami Open and won his first round match against fellow qualifier Benoit Paire. As a result he moved to a new career high ranking of No. 107 on 3 April 2023.

Ranked No. 117, he also qualified for his second Masters at the 2023 Mutua Madrid Open and defeated Corentin Moutet in the first round.

Personal life

Watanuki has two brothers, Yusuke and Keisuke, who are both also professional tennis players.

Challenger and Futures Finals

Singles: 12 (8-4)
Legend (singles)
ATP Challenger Tour (3-3)
ITF Futures Tour (5-1)
Titles by surface
Hard (8-4)
Clay (0-0)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Win 1-0 Apr 2016 Japan F4, Tsukuba Futures Hard Japan Shintaro Imai 1-6, 6-4, 6-2
Win 2–0 Apr 2016 Japan F5, Kashiwa Futures Hard Japan Makoto Ochi 6-3, 6-3
Win 3-0 Jun 2017 Japan F7, Tokyo Futures Hard Japan Kento Takeuchi 4-6, 6-1, 6-4
Loss 3-1 Jun 2017 Chinese Taipei F1, Taipei Futures Hard United States Daniel Nguyen 6-7(8-10), 1-6
Win 4-1 Jun 2017 Chinese Taipei F2, Taipei Futures Hard Japan Yusuke Takahashi 6-2, 6-3
Win 5-1 Apr 2018 Japan F4, Tsukuba Futures Hard Japan Renta Tokuda 7-5, 6-1
Loss 5-2 Nov 2018 Kobe, Japan Challenger Hard (i) Japan Tatsuma Ito 6-3, 5-7, 3-6
Win 6-2 Nov 2019 Kobe, Japan Challenger Hard (i) Japan Yuichi Sugita 6-2, 6-4
Loss 6-3 Feb 2020 Cleveland, USA Challenger Hard (i) Denmark Mikael Torpegaard 3-6, 6-1, 1-6
Loss 6-4 Oct 2022 Yokohama, Japan Challenger Hard Australia Christopher O'Connell 1–6, 7–6(7–5), 3–6
Win 7-4 Nov 2022 Kobe, Japan Challenger Hard (i) Portugal Frederico Ferreira Silva 6–7(3–7), 7–5, 6–4
Win 8-4 Nov 2022 Yokkaichi, Japan Challenger Hard Portugal Frederico Ferreira Silva 6–2, 6–2

References
  1. "詳細ページ:綿貫 陽介". Japan Tennis Association (in Japanese). Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  2. "ATP Rankings | Pepperstone ATP Rankings (Singles) | ATP Tour | Tennis | ATP Tour | Tennis".
  3. "綿貫陽介が金星、44位ハーセ撃破「気持ち強かった」". Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). 2 October 2018. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  4. "Watanuki Clinches Maiden Title on Ninth Championship Point | ATP Tour | Tennis".
  5. "ATP Lyon Day 3 Predictions Including Cam Norrie vs Francisco Cerundolo". 16 May 2022.
  6. "ATP Lione: Norrie di ordinaria amministrazione, Watanuki sorprende Kwon, una certezza Baez. Avanti anche Guinard e Coria". 17 May 2022.
  7. "Good Sensations': Norrie Makes Winning Start In Lyon". ATPTour. 17 May 2022.
  8. https://www.tennis.com/news/articles/kyle-edmund-returns-from-almost-two-year-layoff-i-didn-t-pick-up-a-racquet-for-f
  9. "Riedi, Watanuki Capture Back-To-Back Challenger Titles | ATP Tour | Tennis".
  10. "Shang Juncheng: 17-Year-Old Charges into Australian Open Main Draw | ATP Tour | Tennis". 12 January 2023.
  11. "Five Challenger Tour Players to Watch at the Australian Open | ATP Tour | Tennis". 13 January 2023.
  12. "'Going Up Together', Watanuki Rises With Brother By His Side". 23 February 2023.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.