A Japanese woman tennis player, Ai Sugiyama(杉山愛), 34 years old put an end to her 17 years tennis career at the doubles final of The Toray Pan Pacific Open Tennis Tournament in the Ariake Colosseum (有明コロシアム), Tokyo.
Unfortunately she could not finish with the victory, but it was the first time for Japanese players to be a finalist at this tournament. About 9,500 audience watched the retirement ceremony and the final game.
Her best ranking in singles was 8th in Feb. 2004, and in doubles was 1st in Oct. 2000. She also became a champion at the mix doubles of The US Open Tennis Championships in 1999. She is the first Japanese player that became No. 1 in Women's Tennis Association (WTA) and ranked in top 10 for both singles and doubles.
She also made the record of participating the four grand slam tournaments for 62 times in straight.
Congratulations!
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