1988 - Played first events of career on ITF Circuit in Japan, winning two singles titles and two doubles titles; first appeared on rankings on November 21 (No.321).
1989 - Played first five WTA main draws, reaching two QFs and making Grand Slam main draw debuts at
Roland Garros (2r),
Wimbledon (1r) and
US Open (1r); won three singles titles and two doubles titles on ITF Circuit.
1990 - First season played exclusively on WTA; reached two more QFs and first Grand Slam 4r in
Australian Open debut (l. to Sukova); made Top 100 debut on January 8 (No.119 to No.90).
1991 - Reached first WTA final at Los Angeles, finishing runner-up (as qualifier, l. to Seles); made Top 50 debut on August 12 (rose from No.112 to No.32 after Los Angeles).
1992 - Won first WTA title at Tokyo [Japan Open] (d. Appelmans in final); SF twice, at Tokyo [Pan Pacific] (l. to Sabatini) and Osaka (l. to Sukova); QF once; made Top 20 debut on April 13 (rose from No.25 to No.17).
1993 - Won second WTA title at Tokyo [Japan Open] (d. Rottier in final); runner-up twice, at Osaka (l. to Novotna) and Tokyo [Nichirei] (l. to Coetzer); SF at Miami (l. to Sánchez-Vicario); reached first Grand Slam QF at
US Open (l. to Maleeva-Fragnière).
1994 - Won third and fourth WTA titles at Sydney (d. Fernandez in final) and Tokyo [Japan Open] (d. Frazier in final); SF four times, incl. first Grand Slam SF at
Australian Open (l. to Graf), Strasbourg (l. to Fernandez), Montréal (l. to Sánchez-Vicario) and WTA Championships (l. to Sabatini); QF twice, incl.
US Open (l. to Sánchez-Vicario); made Top 10 debut on January 17 (rose from No.13 to No.9), first Japanese to crack Top 10, now one of two (Sugiyama).
1995 - Won fifth WTA title at Tokyo [Pan Pacific] (d. Davenport in final); runner-up three times, at Miami (l. to Graf), Tokyo [Japan Open] (l. to Frazier) and Strasbourg (l. to Davenport); SF twice, at Sydney (ret. vs. Davenport) and second Grand Slam SF at
Roland Garros (l. to Sánchez-Vicario); QF four times, incl.
Wimbledon (l. to Novotna) and WTA Championships (l. to Huber).
1996 - Won seventh and eighth WTA titles at Tokyo [Japan Open] (d. Frazier in final) and San Diego (d. Sánchez-Vicario in final); SF four times, at Sydney (l. to Davenport), Indian Wells (l. to Martínez),
Wimbledon (l. to Graf) and Tokyo [Nichirei] (l. to Seles); QF four times, incl. Olympics (l. to Sánchez-Vicario) and WTA Championships (l. to Hingis in last match before retirement); announced on September 24 she would retire at end of season; when taken off rankings on December 23, 1996, was ranked No.8, having spent 149 total weeks in Top 10 (all in 153-week span between January 17, 1994 and December 23, 1996).
1997-2007 - Only appearance came in doubles at Tokyo [Princess Cup] in September 2002 (as WC w/Saeki, ret. vs. top seeds Black/Likhovtseva in 1r w/left Achilles tendon injury).
2008 - Came out of retirement in May; initially played on ITF Circuit (would win three singles titles and two doubles titles during season); played two WTA events in fall, falling in qualifying at Tokyo [Pan Pacific] (as WC) and in 1r at Tokyo [Japan Open] (as WC).
2009 - First full season back on WTA (finished No.82); won eighth WTA title (first in over 12 years) at Seoul (d. Medina Garrigues in final; at 38y/11m/30d, was second-oldest player in Open Era to win a WTA title after
Billie Jean King, who won 1983 Birmingham at 39y/7m/23d); also longest gap ever between WTA titles (13y/1m between 1996 San Diego and 2009 Seoul); returned to Top 100 afterwards on September 28 (rose from No.155 to No.100; first time in Top 100 since retiring in 1996); SF at Bali (l. to Bartoli); peaked at No.82 afterwards on November 9 year-end rankings; fell 1r nine times (incl.
Australian Open,
Wimbledon) and in qualifying twice (
Roland Garros,
US Open); won two singles titles on ITF Circuit.
2010 - Second full season back on WTA (finished No.46); had strong 11-5 fall season, highlighted by another WTA final at Osaka (l. to Tanasugarn in oldest known WTA final - combined age 73); also reached SF at Bali (l. to Ivanovic), QF at Seoul, 3r at Tokyo [Pan Pacific] and 2r at Beijing; went 5-2 against Top 20 players in fall (d. No.20 Pavlyuchenkova, No.15 Sharapova, No.8 Stosur, No.13 Peer and No.11 Li - win over Stosur made her first 40-something ever to beat a Top 10 player); went 16-14 from start of year through
US Open, best results being QF at Auckland and seven 2r finishes, incl.
Roland Garros (d. Safina in 1r to become oldest player ever to beat a Top 10 player); fell 1r six times (incl.
Australian Open,
US Open).
2011 - Third full season back on WTA (finished No.100); QF at 's-Hertogenbosch; reached 2r five times (incl.
Wimbledon); fell 1r 18 times (incl. other three majors) and in qualifying three times; won one WTA doubles title; won one singles title and one doubles title on ITF Circuit; withdrew from Baku w/left shoulder injury, then struggled w/left hand injury in summer (retired in Cincinnati 1r then withdrew from Dallas).
