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born 30 December 1991 is a Japanese former professional tennis player.
In her career, she won one singles title on the WTA Tour, with seven singles and three doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. On 18 August 2014, she achieved her career-high singles WTA rankings of world No. 32. On 2 May 2016, she peaked at No. 109 in the WTA doubles rankings.
Playing for Japan Fed Cup team, Nara has a win–loss record of 12–8.
In 2004, after entering the middle school associated with Osaka Sangyo University, Nara won the girls' singles title in the All Japan Middle School Tennis Championship. 2006 marked her debut, via sponsor recommendation, in the All Japan Tennis Championships women's singles draw; however, a first-round loss abruptly ended her tournament run. As a freshman at Osaka Sangyo's high school in 2007, Nara won the Under-18 singles title at the All-Japan Junior Tennis Championships.
In addition to her participation in the major events for her age group, Nara also accumulated victories each year in junior events throughout Japan. She enjoyed success in doubles on the ITF Junior Circuit with partner Misaki Doi, earning entrance to the girls' doubles draw at the Wimbledon Championships in 2007. They placed second overall, becoming only the second Japanese women's doubles pair to reach the finals of a Grand Slam juniors event since Yuka Yoshida and Hiroko Mochizuki at the 1993 US Open. The Nara/Doi team went on to reach the junior doubles semifinals at the 2007 US Open and 2008 Wimbledon Championships, in addition to strong performances at smaller tournaments.
Nara also enjoyed success in singles. In 2007, she became the first Japanese woman to win the Osaka Mayor's Cup since Ryōko Fuda in 2002. Also that year, she made her second appearance, again by sponsor recommendation, in the All Japan Tennis Championships. In the second round, she defeated defending champion and fifth seed, Erika Takao, in straight sets, in the third round, she toppled 11th seed Tomoko Yonemura in three sets, and in the quarterfinals, she lost to Junri Namigata. Nara teamed again with Misaki Doi in doubles, reaching the second round in her tournament doubles debut. The next year, she partnered with Kimiko Date-Krumm to win the Kangaroo Cup in Gifu, and the title at the Hamanako Open. She reached the third round of the 2008 US Open girls' singles tournament, where she lost to Kristina Mladenovic.
In early February, Nara competed in Fed Cup competition for Japan against Argentina in Buenos Aires. She lost the opening singles match to María Irigoyen, and also lost the reverse singles to Paula Ormaechea.
Later the same month, Nara, seeded fifth at the first edition of the Rio Open, won her first WTA Tour title beating top seeded Klára Zakopalová in the final. The win helped her break into the top 50 at No. 48.
At the Indian Wells Open, Nara was defeated in the second round by sixth seed Simona Halep. In Miami, she lost to fourth seed Maria Sharapova in the second round.
In April, she again played in Fed Cup, this time against the Netherlands. She won the opening singles match against Arantxa Rus, but was defeated by Kiki Bertens in the reverse singles match. Her next match was a disappointing first-round loss at the Portugal Open to qualifier Irina-Camelia Begu. Another first-round loss came against Peng Shuai at the Madrid Open. In a rematch from the Fed Cup, Nara again was defeated by lucky loser Paula Ormaechea in her first-round match at the Italian Open. Seeded sixth at the Nürnberger Versicherungscup, she lost in the second round to Yaroslava Shvedova. At the French Open, she was defeated in the second round by sixth seed Jelena Janković.
Nara started her grass-court season at the Birmingham Classic. For the second consecutive year, she lost to British wildcard Johanna Konta in the first round. Nara was defeated in the first round of the Rosmalen Open by Elina Svitolina. At Wimbledon, she reached the second round where she lost to 30th seed, five-time Wimbledon champion, and former world No. 1, Venus Williams.
Seeded sixth at the İstanbul Cup, Nara made it to the quarterfinals where she was defeated by second seed and eventual finalist Roberta Vinci. Seeded fourth at the Baku Cup, she fell in the first round to Francesca Schiavone.
Beginning the US Open Series at the Washington Open, Nara reached the final where she lost to sixth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova. Partnering with Hiroko Kuwata, they reached the final in doubles and were defeated by the second-seeded team of Shuko Aoyama / Gabriela Dabrowski.
Nara was scheduled to play at the Rogers Cup but withdrew because of a hip injury. At the Cincinnati Open, Nara was eliminated in the second round by fourth seed Agnieszka Radwańska. Playing in her last tournament before the US Open, she lost in the first round at the Connecticut Open to Samantha Stosur. Seeded 31st at the US Open, Nara was defeated in the second round by Belinda Bencic.
In September, she lost to eighth seed Carla Suárez Navarro in the first round of the Pan Pacific Open. Competing at the first edition of the Wuhan Open, she was defeated in the first round by Svetlana Kuznetsova. At the China Open, she made it to the second round where she was defeated again by Kuznetsova. Nara was scheduled to be the fourth seed at the Japan Women's Open but withdrew with a respiratory illness.
She ended the year ranked 44.
Seeded fourth at the Thailand Open, she was defeated in the second round by Evgeniya Rodina. At the Dubai Tennis Championships, Nara lost in the first round to qualifier Wang Qiang. Seeded sixth at the Malaysian Open, she reached the quarterfinals where she was defeated by fourth seed Jarmila Gajdošová. Competing at Indian Wells, Nara was eliminated in the first round by qualifier Alison Van Uytvanck. She made it to the third round at the Miami Open where she lost to wildcard Daria Gavrilova.
In the clay-court season at the Morocco Open, she was defeated in the first round by Lara Arruabarrena. She suffered a first-round loss at the Madrid Open to Irina-Camelia Begu. Playing in Rome, she was defeated in the first round of qualifying by Daria Gavrilova. Seeded seventh at the Nürnberger Versicherungscup, Nara reached the quarterfinals where she lost to fourth seed and eventual finalist, Roberta Vinci. At the French Open, she was defeated in the second round by 13th seed and eventual finalist, Lucie Šafářová.
Nara played three grass-court tournaments before Wimbledon. At the Rosmalen Championships, she lost in the second round to seventh seed Kristina Mladenovic. Nara was defeated in her first-round match in Birmingham by Kateřina Siniaková. In Eastbourne, she lost in the final round of qualifying to Alexandra Dulgheru. At Wimbledon, she was defeated in the second round by second seed and two-time champion Petra Kvitová.
After Wimbledon, Nara played at the İstanbul Cup and lost in the second round to eighth seed Tsvetana Pironkova. Seeded fourth at the Baku Cup, she was defeated in round one by qualifier Olga Savchuk.
Nara got her US Open preparations underway at the Washington Open. After reaching the final the year before, she fell in the first round to Yulia Putintseva. In Cincinnati, she retired in her final round of qualifying against Putintseva. At the US Open, Nara upset 27th seed Alizé Cornet in the first round and lost in the second to American qualifier Shelby Rogers.
| Grand Slam tournaments | ||||||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | A | A | Q2 | Q3 | Q3 | Q2 | 3R | 1R | 2R | 1R | 1R | Q2 | Q2 | Q1 | Q1 | 0 / 5 | 3–5 | |
| French Open | A | A | 1R | Q2 | Q1 | Q2 | 2R | 2R | 2R | 2R | 1R | 2R | Q3 | Q3 | 0 / 7 | 5–7 | ||
| Wimbledon | A | A | 2R | Q2 | Q1 | Q3 | 2R | 2R | 2R | 1R | 1R | Q1 | NH | Q1 | 0 / 6 | 4–6 | ||
| US Open | A | A | A | Q2 | Q2 | 3R | 2R | 2R | 2R | 3R | 1R | Q1 | 1R | Q2 | 0 / 7 | 7–7 | ||
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 5–4 | 3–4 | 4–4 | 3–4 | 0–4 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0 / 25 | 19–25 | |
| WTA 1000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Dubai / Qatar Open | A | A | A | Q1 | Q1 | A | A | 1R | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | ||
| Indian Wells Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | 2R | 1R | 3R | 1R | 1R | A | NH | Q1 | 0 / 5 | 3–5 | ||
| Miami Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | 2R | 3R | Q1 | 1R | Q1 | A | NH | A | 0 / 3 | 3–3 | ||
| Madrid Open | NH | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | 1R | A | A | A | A | NH | A | 0 / 2 | 0–2 | ||
| Italian Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | Q1 | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | ||
| Canadian Open | A | A | Q1 | A | A | A | A | A | A | Q1 | A | A | NH | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | ||
| Cincinnati Open | NTI | A | Q2 | A | A | A | 2R | Q2 | 2R | Q1 | Q1 | A | A | A | 0 / 2 | 2–2 | ||
| Pan Pacific / Wuhan Open | Q1 | A | 1R | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | A | A | A | A | Q2 | NH | 0 / 4 | 0–4 | |||
| China Open | A | A | A | A | A | Q1 | 2R | A | Q2 | A | A | A | NH | 0 / 1 | 1–1 | |||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||
| Tournaments | 0 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 22 | 22 | 18 | 17 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | Career total: 119 | ||
| Titles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Career total: 1 | ||
| Finals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Career total: 2 | ||
| Overall win–loss | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–7 | 1–4 | 1–3 | 5–6 | 23–21 | 19–22 | 15–17 | 11–17 | 0–14 | 3–3 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 1 / 119 | 83–118 | |
| Year-end ranking | 463 | 174 | 131 | 144 | 157 | 76 | 44 | 83 | 78 | 101 | 167 | 144 | 159 | 186 | $2,868,337 | |||
| Australian Open | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | A | 0 / 3 | 0–3 | |||
| French Open | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | A | 0 / 4 | 0–4 | |||
| Wimbledon | 1R | 2R | A | A | A | 0 / 2 | 1–2 | |||
| US Open | 1R | A | 1R | A | A | 0 / 2 | 0–2 | |||
| Win–loss | 0–3 | 1–3 | 0–3 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0 / 11 | 1–11 | |||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||
| Year-end ranking | 255 | 148 | 258 | 427 | 873 | |||||
| Grand Slam tournaments |
| Premier M & Premier 5 |
| Premier |
| International |
| Win | 1–0 | Rio Open, Brazil | International | Clay | Klára Zakopalová | 6–1, 4–6, 6–1 | |
| Loss | 1–1 | Washington Open, US | International | Hard | Svetlana Kuznetsova | 3–6, 6–4, 4–6 |
| Loss | 0–1 | Washington Open, United States | International | Hard | Hiroko Kuwata | Shuko Aoyama Gabriela Dabrowski | 1–6, 2–6 | |
| Loss | 0–2 | Japan Women's Open, Japan | International | Hard | Misaki Doi | Chan Yung-jan Chan Hao-ching | 1–6, 2–6 |
| $100,000 tournaments |
| $75/80,000 tournaments |
| $50,000 tournaments |
| $25,000 tournaments |
| Win | 1–0 | Oct 2008 | ITF Hamanako, Japan | 25,000 | Carpet | Chinami Ogi | 6–2, 6–3 |
| Loss | 1–1 | Jun 2009 | ITF Komoro, Japan | 25,000 | Clay | Yurika Sema | 3–6, 6–1, 4–6 |
| Win | 2–1 | Aug 2009 | ITF Obihiro, Japan | 25,000 | Carpet | Junri Namigata | 7–6(7), 4–6, 6–4 |
| Loss | 2–2 | Sep 2009 | ITF Tsukuba, Japan | 25,000 | Hard | Suchanun Viratprasert | 3–6, 4–6 |
| Loss | 2–3 | Feb 2010 | ITF Surprise, United States | 25,000 | Hard | Abigail Spears | 1–6, 2–6 |
| Loss | 2–4 | Jul 2010 | ITF Grapevine, United States | 50,000 | Hard | Jamie Hampton | 3–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 3–4 | Jul 2010 | Lexington Challenger, United States | 50,000 | Hard | Stéphanie Dubois | 6–4, 6–4 |
| Loss | 3–5 | Aug 2011 | Beijing Challenger, China | 75,000 | Hard | Hsieh Su-wei | 2–6, 2–6 |
| Win | 4–5 | Oct 2011 | ITF Grapevine, United States | 50,000 | Hard | Sesil Karatantcheva | 1–6, 6–0, 6–3 |
| Win | 5–5 | Jul 2013 | ITF Portland, United States | 50,000 | Clay | Alison Riske | 3–6, 6–3, 6–3 |
| Loss | 5–6 | Feb 2018 | Rancho Santa Fe Open, United States | 25,000 | Hard | Asia Muhammad | 4–6, 6–2, 6–7(3) |
| Win | 6–6 | May 2018 | Kangaroo Cup, Japan | 80,000 | Hard | Moyuka Uchijima | 6–2, 7–6(4) |
| Win | 7–6 | Jun 2022 | ITF Changwon, South Korea | 25,000 | Hard | Han Na-lae | 6–3, 6–1 |
| Win | 1–0 | May 2008 | Kangaroo Cup, Japan | 50,000 | Carpet | Kimiko Date | Melanie South Nicole Thyssen | 6–1, 6–7(8), 10–7 |
| Win | 2–0 | Jul 2008 | ITF Miyazaki, Japan | 25,000 | Carpet | Misaki Doi | Kimiko Date Tomoko Yonemura | 4–6, 6–3, 10–7 |
| Loss | 2–1 | May 2009 | Kangaroo Cup, Japan | 50,000 | Carpet | Misaki Doi | Sophie Ferguson Aiko Nakamura | 2–6, 1–6 |
| Loss | 2–2 | Aug 2009 | ITF Obihiro, Japan | 25,000 | Carpet | Rika Fujiwara | Natsumi Hamamura Ayumi Oka | 6–3, 1–6, 5–10 |
| Win | 3–2 | Sep 2009 | ITF Makinohara, Japan | 25,000 | Carpet | Erika Sema | Mari Tanaka Tomoko Yonemura | 6–0, 6–0 |
| Loss | 3–3 | May 2013 | Open Saint-Gaudens, France | 50,000 | Clay | Stéphanie Dubois | Julia Glushko Paula Ormaechea | 5–7, 6–7(11) |
| Loss | 3–4 | Nov 2015 | ITF Tokyo Open, Japan | 100,000 | Hard | Eri Hozumi | Shuko Aoyama Makoto Ninomiya | 6–3, 2–6, 7–10 |
| 2017 | ||||||
| 1. | Svetlana Kuznetsova | No. 8 | US Open | Hard | 2R | 6–3, 3–6, 6–3 |
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