Shinobu Asagoe is a Japanese female professional tennis player. She turned professional in 1997. 2000 was the first year in which she finished in the WTA top 100 (no. 72). In the US Open that year, she defeated Patty Schnyder, a top 50 player. She also reached her first WTA tour quarterfinal that year at the Princess Cup at Tokyo defeating Ai Sugiyama and losing to Monica Seles. She also represented Japan at the Sydney Olympics.
In 2003, she reached her first WTA tour singles final. In 2004, she reached her second career singles final in Hobart, as well as her first Grand Slam quarterfinal at the US Open. On April 18, 2005, Asagoe reached her career-high singles ranking: 21st. In June, she reached her career high doubles ranking (18th). As of September 2005, she is the highest ranked Asian female tennis player.
Plays doubles with Katarina Srebotnik; at Australian Open 2006, reached the semifinal, beating (2) Cara Black/Rennae Stubbs 6-3 4-6 6-0. Face (12) Zi Yan/Jie Zheng.
Women's Tennis Association | Top ten Asian female tennis players as of February 2006 1. Ai Sugiyama (Japan) | 2. Sania Mirza (India) | 3. Zheng Jie (China) 4. Shinobu Asagoe (Japan) | 5. Peng Shuai (China) | 6. Akiko Morigami (Japan) 7. Aiko Nakamura (Japan) | 8. Li Na (China) | 9. Yan Zi (China) | 10. Cho Yoon-jeong (Korea)
