Ena Shibahara Shines in Singles: A Breakout Year for the Doubles Ace

Ena Shibahara's story is an unusual one. It is a common occurrence in professional tennis to see players make the transition from singles to doubles, particularly once they move into the latter stages of their careers; as they age, the physical toll of singles tennis makes the move onto the less-demanding doubles circuit a logical choice for many. However, it is not often we see players attempt to transition to the singles circuit after forging a successful career in doubles. But that is exactly what 26-year-old Shibahara of Japan has done.

To say that Shibahara was a success on the doubles circuit is a bit of an understatement. Along with her partner and compatriot Shuko Aoyama, she became one of the top doubles players in the world, reaching as high as world no. 4 in the WTA rankings, winning two WTA 1000 titles and even finishing runner-up at the 2023 Australian Open. In 2022, she became a grand slam champion when she won the mixed doubles title at the French Open alongside Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands. Last year, her and Aoyama ended the season within the top 15.

Given her success, it was perhaps a risky decision for Shibahara to step away from elite-level doubles competition on the WTA Tour and move to the slog of singles on the less-glamorous ITF Tour (the lowest tier of professional tennis). Nonetheless, with a singles ranking of just 548, she made the decision to give it a go at the start of the 2024 season.

Shibahara hit the ground running. In her first two tournaments of the year, she came through qualifying each time to reach back-to-back ITF semifinals in Thailand and Australia. By the beginning of March she had won her first singles title, this time in the US. In April, she finished runner-up in Tokyo at an ITF W100 event, which is the highest level of tournament on the ITF Tour. On the way to the final she beat the number 1 seed Emina Bektas, who at the time had a WTA ranking of 108. It was clear by this point that she was more than holding her own at this level.

In June, she qualified for her first WTA tournament of the year on the grass of Nottingham, England. She lost in straight sets in the first round to Emma Raducanu, but in the second set she gave a very good account of herself. That she could compete with a player of such quality perhaps gave her the confidence that she could win on the WTA Tour. And it didn't take her long to do so. At a WTA 250 event in Prague the following month, she made it into the draw as a lucky loser and beat Tamara Korpatsch to achieve not only her first WTA win, but also her first top 100 win.

By the end of July, she had reached a ranking of 232 in the world. This was an amazing achievement, as she had moved up around 300 spots in the rankings in just half a year. This new ranking would also hold even greater significance as it would determine whether she could enter the qualifying tournament for the US Open, the final grand slam event of the year. When the entry list was made, she was ten spots away from making the cut, meaning she would need the withdrawal of ten players above her to be allowed into the qualifying draw. Amazingly, she ended up being the last direct acceptance, making the cut just a day before the draw was made. It was a beautiful reward for all her hard work in the smaller tournaments throughout the year.

Ena Shibahara in action against Arianne Hartono in the final qualifying round of the 2024 US Open

And things were about to get even better. Shibahara won her first two qualifying matches in New York and then, in the third and final qualifying round, beat world no. 148 Arianne Hartono from a set down to make it into the main draw of the US Open. She dropped to her knees as the realisation of what she had achieved sunk in. This was a monumental accomplishment. Not only had she qualified for her first major as a singles player, she had done it on her very first attempt! But the US-born Shibahara still had work to do. She had been drawn in the first round against Daria Saville, ranked 95 in the world. The match turned out to be a rather gruelling contest that lasted 3 hours, 17 minutes—the longest women's match of the first round. And it was Shibahara who clinched the win in the deciding set, winning the championship tiebreak 10-6. A visibly emotional Shibahara again fell down to her knees, surely in full knowledge of the reward that awaited her.

Ena Shibahara clinches qualification for the 2024 US Open

And what was that reward? A match against the world no. 1, Iga Swiatek, on the biggest court in the sport, Arthur Ashe Stadium. Shibahara might not have believed you if you told her that this would happen at the start of the year when she was ranked outside the top 500. But here she was about to compete in one of the sport's finest theatres against perhaps the best player in the women's game today. The match itself didn't go particularly well. She won only one game as the Polish five-time major champion rushed to a 6-0, 6-1 win in just over an hour. But that didn't matter. The experience was surely more valuable than the result. And although she lost the match, her run to the second round saw her pocket prize money of $140,000, which was more than four times as much as she'd won in singles in the whole season so far! Not only that, at the end of the tournament her ranking rocketed up to a career best of 169.

She soon followed up her dream run in New York with her first main-draw win at a WTA 500 event in Guadalajara. Other good performances propelled her up to her current best-ever WTA ranking of 132. In the space of around 10 months, she had risen over 400 spots in the rankings. It was clear that her first full season as a singles player was an overwhelming success.

And yet, some of her finest moments of the year were yet to come. The finale to her season would come at the Finals of the Billie Jean King (BJK) Cup, the premier international women's team event. Shibahara was selected for Japan who had qualified by beating Kazakhstan in the qualifying round in April. She had played for Japan several times before in doubles, including in that qualifying tie, but this would be the first time she had been selected to play singles. Even before going pro, Shibahara had much experience of playing in high-pressure team environments, since she played for UCLA on the US college circuit. Perhaps all that experience would help her here.

The team captain for Japan, Ai Sugiyama, placed her trust in Shibahara by selecting her to play as the no. 1 singles player against Jaqueline Cristian, ahead of the far higher-ranked Moyuka Uchijima. The selection of Shibahara was a clear indication of the progress she had made as a singles player. Cristian was ranked around 60 spots above her at 73 in the WTA rankings, and she had never beaten an opponent that highly ranked before. Furthermore, since Nao Hibino lost the first match for Japan, Shibahara had to win to keep Japan in the competition. Despite the big pressure on her shoulders she handled it superbly, winning in straight sets, 6-4, 7-6(2), with her brave play in the tiebreak getting her over the line. That win wasn't in vain either, as the Japanese doubles pairing of Aoyama (Shibahara's former doubles partner) and Hozumi won their match to take the tie 2-1 for Japan, putting them into the last 8 for the first time since 2013.

Shibahara then played in the quarterfinal tie against Italy. This time she played as the no. 2 singles player against Elisabetta Cocciaretto, ranked 54 in the world. This was expected be an even tougher match for her than the last one. Indeed it proved to be the case as her Italian opponent took the first set 6-3. However, Shibahara certainly didn't give up, and her level got better and better as the match went on. She fought back to take the next two sets 6-4, 6-4 and win the match. Not only that but this was again her best-ever win by ranking. Before the tie against Romania, Shibahara said: “It was one of my dreams to play for my country and it was actually my grandparents' dream for me as well." It certainly seemed as if she channeled all that into her performances in this event.

Japan eventually lost the tie 2-1 to Italy, who went on to become the BJK Cup champions. There was no shame for Japan in losing to such a great team, particularly for Shibahara who was the only Japanese player to have won all her matches at the Finals. She would surely have felt sadness as her team was knocked out of the competition. However, I'm also sure that her performances at the BJK Cup have given her the confidence to aim for much bigger things next year.

At the BJK Cup Finals Shibahara achieved her two best wins by ranking, against players ranked well inside the top 100. It doesn't seem much of a stretch to think that she could make her own push into the top 100 next season, and perhaps even further. She doesn't have the biggest weapons on the tour, but she does have a fairly potent forehand that she is able to place consistently well in the court. Not only that, she has nice variety in her game; she uses slices and drop shots effectively, and also has excellent volleying abilities honed during her time on the doubles circuit. These are all tools that will put her in good stead against the higher-level opponents she may face.

Overall, the year probably couldn't have gone any better for Shibahara. The progress she has made has been pretty remarkable, particularly in the latter part of the season. Many will be watching closely to see how she does next year, when she will have several more opportunities to play on the WTA Tour and enter the other grand slam events. She has already put in some inspired performances at the US Open and the BJK Cup; but perhaps it is she who will be inspiring others to follow her path from doubles specialist to singles sensation.