Professional career Kurumi Nara

1 professional career

1.1 2009–10
1.2 2011–13
1.3 2014: improvement in majors, no. 32 ranking

professional career
2009–10

nara turned pro in april 2009, winning japan tennis championships same year. advanced main draw of grand slam tournament first time @ 2010 french open 3 set win on monica niculescu in qualifiers. @ 4 hours , 42 minutes, said longest women s grand slam qualifier or main draw match in history. go on lose first round match arantxa parra santonja. qualified wimbledon, , won first grand slam main draw singles match in 2 sets on mariana duque mariño. fell li na in second round.

2011–13

nara failed gain entrance 4 grand slam tournaments in 2011, falling in qualifiers each time. july marked nara s first appearance representing japan in fed cup competition; notched win in doubles partner rika fujiwara in playoffs against argentina. although again unable pass qualifying rounds of year s grand slam events, nara bested polona hercog , eleni daniilidou qualify toray pan pacific open in tokyo in 2012. defeated in first round urszula radwańska. nara won 3 qualifying matches enter main draw of 2013 open, winning first-round match against romanian alexandra cadanțu. advanced third round of grand slam first time straight set upset victory on 19th-seeded sorana cîrstea, of romania. lost jelena janković in third round. after 4 exits in tashkent, guangzhou, tokyo , beijing nara regained form in home city @ rakuten japan open tennis championships. nara make semifinals of tournament ousted eugenie bouchard, losing in straight sets.

2014: improvement in majors, no. 32 ranking

nara started year asb classic in new zealand, made quarterfinals, losing there 2nd-seeded ana ivanovic. next australian open, lost 8th-seeded jelena janković in third round in straight sets. in february, nara competed in fed cup competition japan against argentina in buenos aires, argentina. lost opening singles match maría irigoyen in 3 sets, , lost reverse singles paula ormaechea in straight sets. later same month, nara won first wta title @ rio open. beat top seeded klára zakopalová in 3 sets in final. win helped break top 50 @ no. 48. @ indian wells masters, nara lost in second round simona halep in straight sets. @ miami masters, lost 4th-seeded maria sharapova in straight sets in second round.

in april, nara again played fed cup, time against netherlands. won opening singles match against arantxa rus in 3 sets, lost kiki bertens in 3 sets in reverse singles match. next match disappointing first-round loss @ portugal open qualifier irina-camelia begu in first round. first-round loss came in may against peng shuai @ madrid open. in rematch fed cup world ii tie, nara again lost lucky loser paula ormaechea in first-round match @ italian open. 6th seed, lost yaroslava shvedova @ nürnberger versicherungscup in second round. lost 6th-seed jelena janković in second round @ french open. entered doubles competition anna karolína schmiedlová losing in first round chan hao-ching & chan yung-jan.

in june, nara started grass season @ aegon classic; second consecutive year, lost wildcard johanna konta in first round. lost elina svitolina in first round @ topshelf open. played doubles annika beck losing andreja klepač & maría teresa torró flor in first round. lost venus williams in second round @ wimbledon. partnering again annika beck in doubles, lost vera dushevina & chanelle scheepers in first round.

in july, nara 6th seed reached quarterfinals losing 2nd-seeded roberta vinci @ İstanbul cup. seeded fourth lost francesca schiavone in first round @ baku cup. lost in final against 6th-seeded svetlana kuznetsova @ citi open. entered doubles partnering hiroko kuwata losing 2nd-seeded team of shuko aoyama & gabriela dabrowski in finals. scheduled play in rogers cup withdrew hip injury. lost agnieszka radwańska in second round of western & southern open. playing in last tournament before open, lost samantha stosur @ connecticut open in opening round. nara 31st seed playing @ open suffered disappointing three-set loss belinda bencic in second round. entered doubles shuko aoyama losing jelena janković & klára koukalová in first round.

in september, nara withdrew hong kong tennis open. lost 8th-seeded carla suárez navarro in first round @ toray pan pacific open. entered again shuko aoyama in doubles losing second-seeded team of raquel kops-jones & abigail spears in first round. suffered first-round loss @ wuhan open svetlana kuznetsova. unseeded , playing singles @ china open, advanced second round losing again kuznetsova. scheduled 4th seed @ japan women s open withdrew respiratory illness.