Nao Hibino Bio
Nao Hibino (日比野 菜緒, Hibino Nao; born 28 November 1994) is a Japanese professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 56 in singles and No. 43 in doubles by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA). Hibino has won three singles titles and three doubles titles on the WTA Tour. She has also won nine singles and eleven doubles tournaments on the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Women’s World Tennis Tour. Hibino was the number-one-ranked Japanese player in the WTA rankings for five weeks starting on 11 January 2016, and reached this position again on 3 April 2023. Hibino made her breakthrough in 2015, when she won her first WTA Tour title in singles at the Tashkent Open. As a result, she debuted in the top 100. Since then she has spent several years in the top 100, and has been in the top 150 constantly except for a period between February 2022 and September 2022 after a layoff from October 2021 to late April 2022. She has represented Japan at national competitions, debuting in Fed Cup in 2016, and at the Summer Olympics in 2021.
Early Life and Background
Nao Hibino was born on November 28, 1994, in Ichinomiya, Aichi, Japan. Coming from a tennis-loving family, she is named after former top-20 player Naoko Sawamatsu, while her brother is named after Shuzo Matsuoka. She also has one older sister. At the age of 10, she and her brother were introduced to tennis by their mother. In 2015, Hibino moved to Kobe, Japan for training. She enjoys spending time with her family because she rarely gets the chance to live with them. When she returns home, she often goes shopping with her sister and takes their dogs for a walk. She also likes reading and often reads in her spare time. Hibino enjoys eating local foods and sightseeing at famous places while traveling on tour. Since a young age, she has dreamt of playing on the Centre Court of Wimbledon.
Path to Tennis
Hibino reached a career-high ranking of No. 54 as a junior. She began playing on the ITF Junior Circuit in January 2009 at the age of 14. The following March, she made her debut at the Grade 1 Japan Open in Nagoya, reaching the second round in both the singles and doubles events. Three weeks later, she won her first junior singles title at the Grade-4 Gallipoli Youth Tennis Cup in Queensland after defeating Ashleigh Barty in the final. There she also won her first doubles title. In October, she played her strongest tournament to date, the Grade A Osaka Mayor’s Cup, where she advanced to the second round. She had a better result in doubles, reaching the quarterfinal alongside Mana Ayukawa. After starting the 2011 season with an early loss at the Grade-1 Loy Yang Traralgon International in Traralgon, she made her major debut at the Australian Open. In singles, she reached the second round, while in doubles she lost in the first round alongside Emily Fanning. At her next tournament, the Grade-1 Chang LTAT ITF Junior Championships in Nonthaburi, Hibino achieved her most significant result to date in singles, getting to the semifinals. Two weeks later, she had her biggest result in doubles as well, winning her first Grade-1 title at the Mitsubishi-Lancer International Championships in Manila. In her two following tournaments, she won two Grade-4 events in Australia in both the singles and doubles, including the one in Queensland where she defended her titles. Her singles performance then started to decline, as she lost in the early rounds at tournaments such as the French Open, Wimbledon, the Canadian Open, the US Open, the Osaka Mayor’s Cup, and the Japan Open. However, her doubles performance continued to lead to good results as she reached the semifinals of the Canadian Open and Osaka Mayor’s Cup. She closed out the season with a singles quarterfinal and a doubles title at the Grade-B1 Seogwipo Asian/Oceania Closed International Championships in Jeju-do.
Nao Hibino Career
Early Career (2012–2014)
Hibino began playing on the ITF Women’s Circuit in May 2012 at the age of 17. She played in the qualifying draw of the $25k tournament in Karuizawa in the singles event but failed to reach the main draw. Nonetheless, she made her debut in the doubles event. A month later, she was given a wildcard for the singles main draw of the 10k tournament in Tokyo. She took advantage of the wildcard and won the title in her debut appearance. The following week, she continued with success, winning another 10k title, this time in Mie. This performance put her on the WTA rankings for the first time, getting to No. 974 in singles. In September of the same year, she won her first ITF doubles title in Kyoto along with the title in singles as well. After not having such impressive results during the first four months of 2013, she reached her first bigger ITF final at the 50k Kangaroo Cup in Gifu, in the doubles event. Three weeks later, she won her first doubles title of the season at the 25k event in Goyang. Her results improved in singles during the second half of the year. In early September, she won the 25k tournament in Tsukuba defeating fellow Japanese player Erika Sema. Then, in late September, she got her first attempt at playing on the WTA Tour, after getting a wildcard for the qualifying draw of the WTA 1000 Pan Pacific Open. She faced 14th seed Ashleigh Barty but lost in straight sets. Not long after that, she got another chance for her WTA Tour debut at the Japan Women’s Open in Tokyo. She made it through the first round of the qualifying draw, after beating her compatriot Miki Miyamura but then was beaten by Zarina Diyas. During the year, Hibino improved her ranking. In singles, she rose from world No. 576 in the opening week to No. 291 as her year-end ranking.
Breakthrough (2015)
Despite making progress in the previous seasons, Hibino was still limited to playing mainly at the ITF tournaments. However, she continued to excel there. Her first title of the year happened in early April at Bangkok in doubles. Then, the following week, she advanced to the final of the 25k Ahmedabad tournament, also in doubles. A month later, at the 50k Fukuoka International, she reached her first singles final after almost a year. She failed to win the title against Kristýna Plíšková but then the following week, she won the 50k Kurume Cup beating Eri Hozumi in the final. She then lost in Wimbledon qualifying, but followed this up with another ITF singles title at the 50k Stockton Challenger. In late July, she won both singles and doubles titles at the 50k Lexington Challenger. Hibino then was really close to making her major main-draw debut, reaching the final stage of qualifying of the US Open but did not manage to qualify losing to Kateryna Bondarenko. Two weeks later, she made her singles WTA Tour debut, playing at the Japan Women’s Open. She entered the main draw as a wildcard player and also won her first WTA Tour match, after defeating her compatriot Hiroko Kuwata. This helped her to enter qualifying of the Premier-level Pan Pacific Open but she was stopped again by Bondarenko in the final stage of qualification. Nonetheless, the following week she made big progress, winning her first WTA singles title at the Tashkent Open. In the final, she defeated Donna Vekić. The victory helped her debut inside the top 100 of the WTA singles rankings, rising up to No. 76. By the end of the year, she advanced to the semifinal of the WTA 125 Hua Hin Championships, followed up with the final of the 100k Tokyo Open that made her move to No. 66 in the singles rankings.
Notable Works and Milestones
Nao Hibino’s signature work includes her victory at the Tashkent Open, which marked her first WTA singles title. She has also achieved notable milestones by reaching the top 100 in the WTA rankings and representing Japan in international competitions.
Nao Hibino Award Nominations
Nao Hibino has received various nominations throughout her career, reflecting her achievements and contributions to the sport of tennis.
Nao Hibino Awards Won
Nao Hibino has won several awards during her career, including three singles titles and three doubles titles on the WTA Tour. She has also secured nine singles and eleven doubles titles on the ITF Women’s World Tennis Tour.
Nao Hibino Family
Nao Hibino comes from a tennis-loving family. She has a brother and an older sister, both of whom have been supportive of her tennis career.
Personal Life
Nao Hibino enjoys spending time with her family and often engages in activities such as shopping and walking their dogs. She has a passion for reading and enjoys exploring local cuisines and sights while traveling for tournaments.
