Sara Saito (斎藤咲良, Saitō Sara; born 3 October 2006) is a Japanese tennis player.
She has a career-high WTA singles ranking of world No. 159, achieved on 16 December 2024. She reached her career-high doubles ranking of No. 484 on 18 March 2024.[1]
Career
2023: Juniors
She has a career-high ITF junior combined ranking of 2, achieved on 29 May 2023.[2] She had a disappointing performance in the singles draw of the 2023 Australian Open, losing in the first round to Australian wildcard Stefani Webb.[3] She reached the final of the doubles with fellow Japanese Hayu Kinoshita, losing to Renáta Jamrichová and Federica Urgesi.[4] She was top seeded in the girls' singles tournament at the 2023 French Open, after winning two titles in South America.[5]
2024: First quarterfinal on WTA Tour debut
Saito made her WTA Tour main draw debut as a wildcard at the 2024 Japan Women's Open,[6] defeating Jéssica Bouzas Maneiro[7] and fifth seed Elina Avanesyan[8][9] to reach her first WTA Tour quarterfinal, where her run was ended in straight sets by Kimberly Birrell.[10]
She entered the WTA 500 2024 Toray Pan Pacific Open as a lucky loser, making her debut at this WTA level but lost to qualifier and compatriot Sayaka Ishii.[11]
ITF Circuit finals
Singles: 6 (4 titles, 2 runner-ups)
| Legend
|
| W100 tournaments (1–0)
|
| W75 tournaments (0–1)
|
| W50 tournaments (1–1)
|
| W25/35 tournaments (2–0)
|
|
| Finals by surface
|
| Hard (1–2)
|
| Clay (1–0)
|
| Carpet (2–0)
|
|
| Result
|
W–L
|
Date
|
Tournament
|
Tier
|
Surface
|
Opponent
|
Score
|
| Win
|
1–0
|
Oct 2023
|
ITF Makinohara, Japan
|
W25
|
Carpet
|
Thasaporn Naklo
|
6–4, 6–3
|
| Loss
|
1–1
|
Jan 2024
|
ITF Nonthaburi, Thailand
|
W50
|
Hard
|
Antonia Ružić
|
1–6, 3–6
|
| Loss
|
1–2
|
Jan 2024
|
Burnie International, Australia
|
W75
|
Hard
|
Priscilla Hon
|
3–6, 0–6
|
| Win
|
2–2
|
Jun 2024
|
Open de Biarritz, France
|
W100
|
Clay
|
Margaux Rouvroy
|
5–7, 6–3, 6–3
|
| Win
|
3–2
|
Mar 2025
|
ITF Kyoto, Japan
|
W50
|
Hard (i)
|
Himeno Sakatsume
|
6–4, 7–6(2)
|
| Win
|
4–2
|
Oct 2025
|
ITF Makinohara, Japan
|
W35
|
Carpet
|
Back Da-yeon
|
6–1, 6–2
|
Doubles: 1 (title)
| Legend
|
| W25/35 tournaments (1–0)
|
|
| Finals by surface
|
| Carpet (1–0)
|
|
| Result
|
W–L
|
Date
|
Tournament
|
Tier
|
Surface
|
Partner
|
Opponents
|
Score
|
| Win
|
1–0
|
Oct 2025
|
ITF Makinohara, Japan
|
W35
|
Carpet
|
Ayano Shimizu
|
Chen Mengyi
Tiana Tian Deng
|
6–2, 6–4
|
Junior Grand Slam finals
Doubles: 3 (3 runner-ups)
References
External links