JANUARY - Fell 1r at Shenzhen (l. to Duan); reached 2r at Sydney (l. to A.Radwanska); reached 3r at Australian Open (l. to Jovanovski; was second-oldest woman to reach a Grand Slam 3r in Open Era).

FEBRUARY - Reached 2r at Pattaya City (l. to Morita); won fourth WTA doubles title at Pattaya City (w/Dellacqua); fell 1r at Florianopolis (l. to Rybarikova).

MARCH - Reached 2r at Indian Wells (l. to Vesnina); reached 2r at Miami (l. to V.Williams).

APRIL - Fell 1r at Monterrey (ret. vs. Niculescu w/low back injury); won fifth WTA doubles title at Monterrey (w/Babos).

MAY - Won sixth WTA doubles title at Strasbourg (w/Scheepers).

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 at Australian Open (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); set career-high No.4 on November 13 (equal-highest ranking ever for an Asian player - Li also got to No.4 in 2011).

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 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); 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); went 16-14 from start of year through US Open, best results being QF at Auckland and seven 2r finishes (incl. Roland Garros); fell 1r six times (incl. Australian Open, US Open); win over Safina in French Open 1r made her oldest player ever to beat a Top 10 player (at 39y/7m/26d) and win over Stosur in Osaka surpassed that (at 40y/17d).

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).

2012 - Fourth full season back on WTA (finished No.146); reached 2r twice; fell 1r 12 times (incl. all four majors and Copenhagen - l. to Babos 16 76(4) 75; held 2mp at 5-3 third set) and in qualifying twice; won one WTA doubles title; won three singles titles on ITF Circuit; withdrew from Birmingham w/left leg injury.

SINGLES
Winner (8): 2009 - Seoul; 1996 - Tokyo [Japan Open], San Diego; 1995 - Tokyo [Pan Pacific]; 1994 - Sydney, Tokyo [Japan Open]; 1993 - Tokyo [Japan Open]; 1992 - Tokyo [Japan Open].
Finalist (7): 2010 - Osaka; 1995 - Miami, Tokyo [Japan Open], Strasbourg; 1993 - Osaka, Tokyo [Nichirei]; 1991 - Los Angeles.

DOUBLES
Winner (6): 2013 - Pattaya City (w/Dellacqua), Monterrey (w/Babos), Strasbourg (w/Scheepers); 2012 - Copenhagen (w/Fujiwara); 2011 - Osaka (w/Zhang); 1996 - Tokyo [Japan Open] (w/Sugiyama).
Finalist (4): 2012 - Monterrey (w/Zhang), Osaka (w/Watson); 2009 - Guangzhou (w/Sun); 1992 - Tokyo [Japan Open] (w/Rehe).

ADDITIONAL
Japanese Fed Cup Team, 1989-92, 94-96, 2010, 2012; Japanese Olympic Team, 1992, 1996.