Shinobu Asagoe

is a Japanese former tennis player. She turned professional in 1997, and retired in 2006.

Career 2000 was the first year in which she finished in the WTA top 100 (No. 72). At 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 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. In April 2005, Asagoe reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 21. In May of the following year, she reached her career-high doubles ranking (13th).

Asagoe appeared in one WTA Tour final, in Auckland 2003, where she lost to Katarina Srebotnik in three sets. She held a 4–0 lead in the second set when Srebotnik took an injury timeout. From there, Strebotnik played "all in" tennis and won the match, in what was an agonising result for Asagoe.

Her most memorable match was a second-round marathon at Wimbledon 2003, when her stressed-out opponent, Daniela Hantuchová, melted down well on the way to what looked like a routine two-set win. Eventually, after nearly three hours, Asagoe won the contest 12–10 in the third set.

She played doubles with Katarina Srebotnik. At the 2006 Australian Open, they reached the semifinals by beating Cara Black/Rennae Stubbs 6–3, 4–6, 6–0. They lost to eventual champions Yan/Zheng in the semifinals.

At the US Open that same year, she lost her first-round match in straight sets to Jelena Kostanić. She had announced, the US Open would be her last tournament. In doubles, with Akiko Morigami, they won their first-round match 6–1, 6–3, and they were to play against the 14th seeds, Marion Bartoli/Shahar Peer. Bartoli/Peer were up 6–4, 5–2, before Shinobu and Akiko won four straight games to make it 6–5. They held many set points at 6–5, but could not convert, thus forcing a tiebreaker; they were down 2–6, but won six straight points, thus taking the tiebreaker, saving four straight match points. They took the final set 6–4.

Asagoe retired at the 2006 US Open, after losing her third-round doubles match (with Morigami) to the world's top-ranked team Lisa Raymond/Samantha Stosur.

Olympic Games medal matches Doubles: 1

WTA Tour finals Singles: 3 (3 runner-ups) LegendTier I (0–0)Tier II (0–0)Tier III (0–1)Tier IV & V (0–2) ResultNo.DateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss 1. Jun 2003 Birmingham Classic, UK Grass Magdalena Maleeva 1–6, 4–6Loss 2. Jan 2004 Hobart International, Australia Hard Amy Frazier 3–6, 3–6Loss 3. Jan 2005 Auckland Open, New Zealand Hard Katarina Srebotnik 7–5, 5–7, 4–6

Doubles: 12 (8 titles, 4 runner-ups) LegendTier I (1–1)Tier II (1–0)Tier III (4–2)Tier IV & V (2–1) ResultNo.DateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWin 1. Jun 2002 Birmingham, UK Grass Els Callens Kimberly Po Nathalie Tauziat 6–4, 6–3Win 2. Oct 2002 Tokyo, Japan Hard Nana Miyagi Svetlana Kuznetsova Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 6–4, 4–6, 6–4Loss 1. Mar 2003 Miami Open, United States Hard Nana Miyagi Liezel Huber Magdalena Maleeva 4–6, 6–3, 5–7Loss 2. Apr 2003 Sarasota, United States Clay Nana Miyagi Liezel Huber Martina Navratilova 6–7(8–10), 3–6Win 3. Jan 2004 Hobart, Australia Hard Seiko Okamoto Els Callens Barbara Schett 2–6, 6–4, 6–3Win 4. Aug 2004 Montreal, Canada Hard Ai Sugiyama Liezel Huber Tamarine Tanasugarn 6–0, 6–3Win 5. Oct 2004 Tokyo, Japan Hard Katarina Srebotnik Jennifer Hopkins Mashona Washington 6–1, 6–4Win 6. Jan 2005 Auckland, New Zealand Hard Katarina Srebotnik Leanne Baker Francesca Lubiani 6–3, 6–3Loss 3. Oct 2005 Tokyo, Japan Hard María Vento-Kabchi Gisela Dulko Maria Kirilenko 5–7, 6–4, 3–6Win 7. Oct 2005 Bangkok, Thailand Hard Gisela Dulko Conchita Martínez Virginia Ruano Pascual 6–1, 7–5Loss 4. Mar 2006 Acapulco, Mexico Clay Émilie Loit Anna-Lena Grönefeld Meghann Shaughnessy 1–6, 3–6Win 8. Apr 2006 Amelia Island, United States Clay Katarina Srebotnik Liezel Huber Sania Mirza 6–2, 6–4

ITF Circuit finals Legend $100,000 tournaments$75,000 tournaments$50,000 tournaments$25,000 tournaments$10,000 tournaments

Singles (9–6) ResultNo.DateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreWin 1. 27 May 1996 ITF Taipei, Taiwan Hard Tomoe Hotta 6–3, 6–0Win 2. 13 October 1996 ITF Kugayama, Japan Hard Akiko Morigami 6–1, 3–6, 6–1Win 3. 21 October 1996 ITF Kyoto, Japan Hard Keiko Nagatomi 6–2, 6–4Win 4. 18 May 1997 ITF Caboolture, Australia Hard Renee Reid 6–4, 6–1Loss 5. 25 May 1997 ITF Gympie, Australia Hard Renee Reid 6–3, 3–6, 4–6Loss 6. 8 June 1997 ITF Ipswich, Australia Hard Renee Reid 1–6, 3–6Loss 7. 12 October 1997 ITF Saga, Japan Grass Surina De Beer 1–6, 7–5, 3–6Win 8. 22 May 1998 ITF Noda, Japan Hard Haruka Inoue 6–2, 6–4Win 9. 15 March 1999 ITF Noda, Japan Hard Miroslava Vavrinec 7–5, 6–4Win 10. 4 April 1999 ITF Clermont, United States Hard Nana Smith 5–7, 6–4, 6–1Loss 11. Kangaroo Cup, Japan Carpet Tamarine Tanasugarn 5–7, 5–6Loss 12. 7 April 2002 Dubai Tennis Challenge, UAE Hard Angelique Widjaja 6–7(4), 2–6Loss 13. 5 May 2002 Kangaroo Cup, Japan Carpet Julie Pullin 6–4, 4–6, 3–6Win 14. 20 October 2002 ITF Haibara, Japan Carpet Aiko Nakamura 6–4, 7–5Win 15. 5 May 2003 Kangaroo Cup, Japan Grass Saori Obata 6–4, 6–1

Doubles (10-9) ResultNo.DateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss 1. 3 October 1994 ITF Ibaraki, Japan Hard Haruka Inoue Kim Il-soon Yoriko Yamagishi 2–6, 1–6Win 2. 16 October 1995 ITF Kugayama, Japan Hard Yuko Hosoki Natalie Frawley Jenny Anne Fetch 6–4, 7–6(3)Win 3. 3 June 1996 ITF Taichung, Taiwan Hard Yuka Tanaka Tomoe Hotta Sachie Umehara 6–0, 6–1Loss 4. 4 May 1997 Gifu, Japan Hard Yasuko Nishimata Saori Obata Kaoru Shibata 3–6, 5–7Win 5. 17 May 1997 Caboolture, Australia Clay Benjamas Sangaram Nannie de Villiers Lisa McShea 6–4, 7–5Win 6. 24 May 1997 Gympie, Australia Clay Benjamas Sangaram Nannie de Villiers Lisa McShea 5–7, 6–3, 6–3Loss 7. 31 May 1997 Bundaberg, Australia Clay Benjamas Sangaram Nannie de Villiers Lisa McShea 6–4, 1–6, 1–6Loss 8. 7 June 1997 Ipswich, Australia Clay Benjamas Sangaram Nannie de Villiers Lisa McShea 4–6, 6–3, 5–7Win 9. 18 October 1998 Seoul, South Korea Hard Kirstin Freye Catherine Barclay Choi Young-ja 6–2, 7–6Loss 10. 21 March 1999 Noda, Japan Hard Yuka Yoshida Cho Yoon-jeong Park Sung-hee 3–6, 3–6Loss 11. 24 October 1999 Nashville, United States Hard Yuka Yoshida Nicole Arendt Katie Schlukebir 1–6, 6–7 Win 12. 7 May 2000 Kangaroo Cup, Japan Carpet Yuka Yoshida Nannie de Villiers Surina De Beer 6–3, 6–1Win 13. 14 May 2000 Seoul, South Korea Clay Saori Obata Li Na Li Ting 6–1, 6–3Win 14. 26 November 2002 Minneapolis, United States Hard (i) Els Callens Rika Hiraki Nana Smith 7–6(3), 7–6(3)Loss 15. 1 May 2002 Kangaroo Cup, Japan Carpet Rika Fujiwara Cho Yoon-jeong Evie Dominikovic 2–6, 2–6Win 16. 12 May 2002 Fukuoka International, Japan Hard Cho Yoon-jeong Julie Pullin Lorna Woodroffe 6–2, 6–4Loss 17. 18 August 2002 Bronx Open, United States Hard Nana Smith Maret Ani Flavia Pennetta 4–6, 1–6Loss 18. 27 April 2003 Kangaroo Cup, Japan Carpet Nana Smith Rika Fujiwara Saori Obata 6–1, 5–7, 3–6Win 19. 8 June 2003 Surbiton Trophy, UK Grass Nana Smith Bethanie Mattek-Sands Lilia Osterloh 7–6, 3–6, 6–4