Yosuke Watanuki (綿貫 陽介, Watanuki Yōsuke, born 12 April 1998) is a Japanese professional tennis player.[1] He has a career-high ATP ranking of World No. 72 achieved on 30 October 2023 and a doubles ranking of No. 374 achieved on 7 January 2019.He is currently the No. 3 Japanese player.[2]
.jpeg) Watanuki in 2018 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Country (sports) |  Japan | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residence | Saitama, Japan | |||||||||||||||||
| Born | 12 April 1998 Saitama, Japan | |||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | |||||||||||||||||
| Turned pro | January 2016 | |||||||||||||||||
| Plays | Right-handed (two handed-backhand) | |||||||||||||||||
| Coach | Yusuke Watanuki | |||||||||||||||||
| Prize money | $1,010,727 | |||||||||||||||||
| Singles | ||||||||||||||||||
| Career record | 15–21 | |||||||||||||||||
| Career titles | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| Highest ranking | No. 72 (30 October 2023) | |||||||||||||||||
| Current ranking | No. 153 (6 May 2024) | |||||||||||||||||
| Grand Slam singles results | ||||||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | 2R (2023) | |||||||||||||||||
| French Open | Q2 (2023) | |||||||||||||||||
| Wimbledon | 2R (2023) | |||||||||||||||||
| US Open | 1R (2023) | |||||||||||||||||
| Doubles | ||||||||||||||||||
| Career record | 2–3 | |||||||||||||||||
| Career titles | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| Highest ranking | No. 374 (7 January 2019) | |||||||||||||||||
| Current ranking | No. 572 (5 February 2024) | |||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| Last updated on: 25 March 2024. | ||||||||||||||||||
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 Márton 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 Martínez for his second top-50 win.[5] Next he defeated Kwon Soon-woo[6] to set up 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 Hyōgo 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 75
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 Benoît Paire but lost to 12th seed Frances Tiafoe. 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.
At the 2023 BOSS Open he qualified and won his first round match against wildcard Feliciano López.[13] He entered the main draw at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships as a lucky loser for the first time at this Major and defeated Marc-Andrea Huesler in a five set match for his second Major win.As a result, two weeks later, he reached the top 100 at world No. 99 on 31 July 2023.[14]
At the 2023 Rolex Shanghai Masters he defeated wildcard Juncheng Shang to reach the second round for the third time at a Masters level in the season. As a result, he rose into the top 75 in the rankings.He received a wildcard for the ATP 500 Japan Open.
He finished the season ranked inside the top 100 at world No. 99.
Personal life
Watanuki has two brothers, Yusuke and Keisuke, who are both also professional tennis players.
Challenger and Futures Finals
Singles: 14 (9–5)
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| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 1–0 | Apr 2016 | Japan F4, Tsukuba | Futures | Hard | Shintaro Imai | 1–6, 6–4, 6–2 |
| Win | 2–0 | Apr 2016 | Japan F5, Kashiwa | Futures | Hard | Makoto Ochi | 6–3, 6–3 |
| Win | 3–0 | Jun 2017 | Japan F7, Tokyo | Futures | Hard | Kento Takeuchi | 4–6, 6–1, 6–4 |
| Loss | 3–1 | Jun 2017 | Chinese Taipei F1, Taipei | Futures | Hard |  Daniel Nguyen | 6–7(8–10), 1–6 |
| Win | 4–1 | Jun 2017 | Chinese Taipei F2, Taipei | Futures | Hard | Yusuke Takahashi | 6–2, 6–3 |
| Win | 5–1 | Apr 2018 | Japan F4, Tsukuba | Futures | Hard | Renta Tokuda | 7–5, 6–1 |
| Loss | 5–2 | Nov 2018 | Kobe, Japan | Challenger | Hard (i) | Tatsuma Ito | 6–3, 5–7, 3–6 |
| Win | 6–2 | Nov 2019 | Kobe, Japan | Challenger | Hard (i) | Yūichi Sugita | 6–2, 6–4 |
| Loss | 6–3 | Feb 2020 | Cleveland, USA | Challenger | Hard (i) |  Mikael Torpegaard | 3–6, 6–1, 1–6 |
| Loss | 6–4 | Oct 2022 | Yokohama, Japan | Challenger | Hard |  Christopher O'Connell | 1–6, 7–6(7–5), 3–6 |
| Win | 7–4 | Nov 2022 | Kobe, Japan | Challenger | Hard (i) |  Frederico Ferreira Silva | 6–7(3–7), 7–5, 6–4 |
| Win | 8–4 | Nov 2022 | Yokkaichi, Japan | Challenger | Hard | Frederico Ferreira Silva | 6–2, 6–2 |
| Loss | 8–5 | Sep 2023 | Shanghai, China | Challenger | Hard | Christopher O'Connell | 3–6, 5–7 |
| Win | 9–5 | Nov 2023 | Yokohama, Japan | Challenger | Hard | Yuta Shimizu | 7–6(7–5), 6–4 |
Other significant finals
Gold Medal matches
Singles: 1 (1 silver medal)
| Result | Year | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Silver | 2022 | Asian Games | Hard |  Zhang Zhizhen | 4–6, 6–7(7–9) |
Record against top 10 players
Watanuki's record against players who have been ranked in the top 10, with those who are active in boldface. Only ATP Tour main draw matches are considered:
| Player | Record | Win % | Hard | Clay | Grass | Last Match |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number 1 ranked players | ||||||
 Daniil Medvedev | 0–1 | 0% | 0–1 | – | – | Lost (6–3, 5–7, 1–6) at 2018 Washington |
| Number 2 ranked players | ||||||
 Casper Ruud | 0–1 | 0% | 0–1 | – | – | Lost (6–7(6–8), 3–6) at 2023 Tokyo |
 Alexander Zverev | 0–1 | 0% | – | – | 0–1 | Lost (4–6, 7–5, 2–6, 2–6) at 2023 Wimbledon |
| Number 3 ranked players | ||||||
 Milos Raonic | 0–1 | 0% | 0–1 | – | – | Lost (3–6, 6–7(2–7)) at 2018 Tokyo |
| Number 5 ranked players | ||||||
| Taylor Fritz | 0–1 | 0% | 0–1 | – | – | Lost (6–7(2–7), 7–6(8–6), 4–6) at 2023 Shanghai Masters |
| Number 6 ranked players | ||||||
| Félix Auger-Aliassime | 1–0 | 100% | 1–0 | – | – | Won (7–6(12–10), 7–6(7–3)) at 2023 Washington |
| Number 8 ranked players | ||||||
 Cameron Norrie | 0–1 | 0% | – | 0–1 | – | Lost (4–6, 6–7(5–7)) at 2023 Madrid Masters |
| Number 9 ranked players | ||||||
 Hubert Hurkacz | 0–1 | 0% | – | – | 0–1 | Lost (6–4, 6–7(5–7), 6–7(5–7)) at 2023 Stuttgart |
| Number 10 ranked players | ||||||
| Frances Tiafoe | 0–1 | 0% | 0–1 | – | – | Lost (7–6(7–5), 6–7(3–7), 4–6) at 2023 Miami Masters |
| Total | 1–8 | 11.11% | 1–5 (16.67%) | 0–1 (0%) | 0–2 (0%) | * Statistics correct as of 17 October 2023[update]. |
