Mai Hontama

Mai Hontama (本玉真唯) (born 30 August 1999) is a Japanese tennis player. Hontama has a career-high singles ranking of 105 by the WTA, achieved on 5 August 2024, and a career-high doubles ranking of 109, set on 6 November 2023.^[3]

Mai Hontama

Hontama at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships
Country (sports)	Japan
Born	(1999-08-30) 30 August 1999 (age 25)[1] Machida, Tokyo[2]
Height	1.64 m (5 ft 5 in)
Plays	Right (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	US$ 880,808
Singles
Career record	246–167
Career titles	4 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 105 (5 August 2024)
Current ranking	No. 137 (21 October 2024)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	1R (2024)
French Open	Q3 (2023)
Wimbledon	2R (2022)
US Open	Q2 (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024)
Doubles
Career record	67–61
Career titles	5 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 109 (6 November 2023)
Current ranking	No. 523 (21 October 2024)
Team competitions
BJK Cup	8–2
Last updated on: 21 October 2024.

Career

2021: WTA Tour debut and first quarterfinal

Hontama made her WTA Tour debut at the WTA 500 2021 Chicago Fall Tennis Classic, after qualifying for the main draw. She reached the quarterfinals, defeating former world No. 4, Caroline Garcia in the first round, her first top 100 win,^[4] 11th seed Anett Kontaveit by walkover and Shelby Rogers, before falling to eventual champion Garbiñe Muguruza.^[5]

2022-2023: Major debut and first win

She made her Grand Slam debut at the Wimbledon Championships after qualifying, where she recorded the first major match win in her career, over Clara Tauson.^[6][7][8][9]

At her home tournament, the WTA 500 Pan Pacific Open, she reached the second round in 2023, after qualifying and defeating compatriot Nao Hibino before she lost to the top seed Iga Świątek.^[10]

2024: WTA 1000 debut

She received a wildcard for the 2024 Australian Open making her main-draw debut at this major but lost to ninth seed Barbora Krejčíková.^[11]

She made her WTA 1000 debut in Indian Wells, after qualifying into the main draw, and recorded her first win at this level defeating Zhang Shuai,^[12] but lost to 31st seed Marta Kostyuk, in the second round.^[13]

Ranked No. 116, she also made her debut at the WTA 1000 China Open, as a lucky loser, after the late withdrawal of Amanda Anisimova, losing in the first round to Wang Xinyu.^[14]

Sponsorship

Hontama wears Lacoste clothing, and uses Tecnifibre racquets.

Performance timeline

Key

W

F

SF

QF

#R

RR

Q#

P#

DNQ

A

Z#

PO

G

S

B

NMS

NTI

P

NH

(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Only main-draw results in WTA Tour, Grand Slam tournaments, Billie Jean King Cup, United Cup, Hopman Cup and Olympic Games are included in win–loss records.

Singles

Current through the 2023 Tunis Open.

Tournament	2021	2022	2023	2024	SR	W–L	Win%
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	A	Q3	Q2	1R	0 / 1	0–1	0%
French Open	A	Q1	Q3	Q2	0 / 0	0–0	–
Wimbledon	A	2R	Q1	Q1	0 / 1	1–1	50%
US Open	Q2	Q2	Q2	Q2	0 / 0	0–0	–
Win–loss	0–0	1–1	0–0	0–1	0 / 2	1–2	33%
National representation
Billie Jean King Cup[a]	A[b]	PO	PO		0 / 0	7–1	88%
WTA 1000
Dubai / Qatar Open[c]	A	A	A		0 / 0	0–0	–
Indian Wells Open	1R	Q2	A		0 / 1	0–1	0%
Miami Open	A	Q1	A		0 / 0	0–0	–
Madrid Open	A	A	A		0 / 0	0–0	–
Italian Open	A	A	A		0 / 0	0–0	–
Canadian Open	A	A	A		0 / 0	0–0	–
Cincinnati Open	A	A	A		0 / 0	0–0	–
Guadalajara Open	NH	A	A		0 / 0	0–0	–
Wuhan Open	NH				0 / 0	0–0	–
China Open	NH		A		0 / 0	0–0	–
Win–loss	0–1	0–0	0–0		0 / 1	0–1	0%
Career statistics
	2021	2022	2023		SR	W–L	Win%
Tournaments	2	4	4		Career total: 10
Titles	0	0	0		Career total: 0
Finals	0	0	0		Career total: 0
Overall win–loss	2–2	3–5	11–4		0 / 10	16–11	59%
Year-end ranking[d]	150	212	124		$555,639

Doubles

Current through the 2023 Pan Pacific Open.

Tournament	2022	2023	SR	W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	A	A	0 / 0	0–0
French Open	A	A	0 / 0	0–0
Wimbledon	A	A	0 / 0	0–0
US Open	A	A	0 / 0	0–0
Win–loss	0–0	0–0	0 / 0	0–0
National representation
Billie Jean King Cup[a]	PO	PO	0 / 0	0–0
Career statistics
Tournaments	1	2	Career total: 3
Titles	0	0	Career total: 0
Finals	0	0	Career total: 0
Overall win–loss	0–1	1–2	0 / 3	1–3
Year–end ranking[e]	512

WTA Tour finals

Doubles: 1 (runner-up)

Legend Grand Slam WTA 1000 WTA 500 WTA 250

Finals by surface Hard (0–1) Grass (0–0) Clay (0–0) Carpet (0–0)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	0–1	Oct 2023	Jasmin Open, Tunisia	WTA 250	Hard	Natalija Stevanović	Sara Errani Jasmine Paolini	6–2, 6–7(4–7), [6–10]

ITF Circuit finals

Singles: 9 (4 titles, 5 runner–ups)

Legend $60/75 tournaments (1–1) $40,000 tournaments (1–0) $25,000 tournaments (2–2) $15,000 tournaments (0–2)

Finals by surface Hard (4–1) Clay (0–3) Carpet (0–1)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	Sep 2018	ITF Nanao, Japan	25,000	Carpet	Ayano Shimizu	3–6, 1–6
Loss	0–2	Mar 2020	ITF Yokohama, Japan	25,000	Hard	Yuriko Miyazaki	5–7, 7–5, 2–6
Loss	0–3	Mar 2021	ITF Antalya, Turkey	15,000	Clay	Jang Su-jeong	6–4, 3–6, 2–6
Loss	0–4	Mar 2021	ITF Antalya, Turkey	15,000	Clay	Cristina Dinu	2–6, 3–6
Win	1–4	May 2021	ITF Salinas, Ecuador	25,000	Hard	Carol Zhao	7–5, 6–1
Win	2–4	Jun 2021	ITF Porto, Portugal	25,000	Hard	Anastasia Tikhonova	6–4, 6–3
Win	3–4	Nov 2022	Sydney Challenger, Australia	60,000	Hard	Petra Hule	7–6(1), 3–6, 7–5
Win	4–4	Mar 2023	Branik Maribor Open, Slovenia	40,000	Hard (i)	Clara Tauson	6–4, 3–6, 6–4
Loss	4–5	May 2025	Empire Slovak Open, Slovakia	W75	Clay	Tamara Korpatsch	6–1, 4–6, 4–6

Doubles: 9 (5 titles, 4 runner-ups)

Legend $100,000 tournaments (1–1) $60,000 tournaments (3–1) $25,000 tournaments (1–1) $10,000 tournaments (0–1)

Finals by surface Hard (3–4) Clay (2–0)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	0–1	Dec 2016	ITF Hua Hin, Thailand	10,000	Hard	Yukina Saigo	Nudnida Luangnam Varunya Wongteanchai	5–7, 3–6
Win	1–1	Sep 2022	ITF Santarém, Portugal	25,000	Hard	Maddison Inglis	Suzan Lamens Anastasia Tikhonova	6–0, 6–4
Loss	1–2	Nov 2022	Yokohama Challenger, Japan	25,000	Hard	Han Na-lae	Saki Imamura Naho Sato	4–6, 6–4, [5–10]
Loss	1–3	Nov 2022	ITF Tokyo Open, Japan	60,000	Hard (i)	Junri Namigata	Hsieh Yu-chieh Jessy Rompies	4–6, 3–6
Win	2–3	Feb 2023	Burnie International, Australia	60,000	Hard	Eri Hozumi	Ena Shibahara Arina Rodionova	4–6, 6–3, [10–6]
Win	3–3	Mar 2023	ITF Pretoria, South Africa	60,000	Hard	Alice Tubello	Sofia Costoulas Dalila Spiteri	6–3, 6–3
Win	4–3	May 2023	Open Villa de Madrid, Spain	100,000	Hard	Eri Hozumi	Eleni Christofi Despina Papamichail	6–0, 7–5
Win	5–3	Jun 2023	Internazionali di Brescia, Italy	60,000	Clay	Moyuka Uchijima	Alena Fomina-Klotz Olivia Tjandramulia	6–1, 6–0
Loss	5–4	Aug 2023	Landisville Tennis Challenge, United States	100,000	Hard	Olivia Gadecki	Sophie Chang Yulia Starodubtseva	w/o

Head-to-head records

Record against top 10 players

• She has a 0–2 (0%) record against players who were, at the time the match was played, ranked in the top 10.

Result	W–L	Opponent	Rank	Event	Surface	Round	Score	Rank	H2H
2021
Loss	0–1	Garbiñe Muguruza	No. 9	Chicago Classic, United States	Hard	QF	3–6, 2–6	No. 200
2023
Loss	0–2	Iga Świątek	No. 2	Pan Pacific Open, Japan	Hard	2R	4–6, 5–7	No. 148

Notes

1. Formerly known as Fed Cup until 2020.
2. Edition is split into the two years due to COVID-19.
3. The first Premier 5 event of the year has switched back and forth between the Dubai Tennis Championships and the Qatar Ladies Open since 2009. Dubai was classified as a Premier 5 event from 2009 to 2011 before being succeeded by Doha for the 2012–2014 period. In 2015, Dubai regained its Premier 5 status while Doha was demoted to Premier status. The Premier 5 tournaments were reclassified as WTA 1000 tournaments in 2021.
4. 2016: WTA ranking–734, 2017: WTA ranking–916, 2018: WTA ranking–402, 2019: WTA ranking–381, 2020: WTA ranking–330.
5. 2017: WTA ranking–1094, 2018: WTA ranking–833, 2019: WTA ranking–506, 2020: WTA ranking–553, 2021: WTA ranking–576.