Wakana Sonobe
Japanese tennis player (born 2008)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wakana Sonobe (園部八奏, Sonobe Wanaka, born 17 January 2008) is a Japanese professional tennis player. She won the girls' singles at the 2025 Australian Open and reached the final of the girls' singles at the 2024 US Open.[2]
| Country (sports) |  Japan |
|---|---|
| Born | 17 January 2008 |
| Plays | Left-handed (two-handed backhand)[1] |
| Prize money | $88,706 |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 56–36 |
| Career titles | 1 ITF |
| Highest ranking | No. 224 (10 November 2025) |
| Current ranking | No. 226 (17 November 2025) |
| Grand Slam singles results | |
| Australian Open Junior | W (2025) |
| French Open Junior | 3R (2024) |
| Wimbledon Junior | 3R (2024) |
| US Open Junior | F (2024) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 23–19 |
| Highest ranking | No. 420 (17 November 2025) |
| Current ranking | No. 420 (17 November 2025) |
| Grand Slam doubles results | |
| Australian Open Junior | QF (2025) |
| French Open Junior | QF (2024) |
| Wimbledon Junior | QF (2024) |
| US Open Junior | SF (2023) |
| Last updated on: 17 November 2025. | |
Early life
From Saitama Prefecture, she started playing tennis at four years-old, and briefly did ballet as a youngster. She won the Japanese U14 national tennis title in singles in 2021. She became based at the IMG Academy in the United States in February 2022.[3][4]
Career
2023
She made her junior grand slam debut at the 2023 Australian Open where she reached the second round with partner Emerson Jones.[5][6] Playing the girls' singles at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships she was defeated by British player Mika Stojsavljevic in the first round.[7] She lost to Stojsavljevic again in the first round of the 2023 US Open girls' singles but reached the semi finals of the girls' doubles alongside compatriot Hayu Kinoshita.[8]
2024
Playing alongside Mika Stojsavljevic she reached the quarter finals of the girls' doubles at the 2024 French Open where they were defeated by eventual winners Iva Jovic and Tyra Caterina Grant. She reached the third round of the singles but lost to Tereza Valentová.[9][10]
She reached the quarter finals of the girls' doubles alongside Iva Ivanova of Bulgaria at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships. She reached the third round of the girls' singles where she lost to Iva Jovic.[11][12]
In September 2024, she defeated Mingge Xu to reach the final of the girls' singles at the 2024 US Open.[13] She lost in the final to British player Mika Stojsavljevic.[14]
2025: WTA debut and first win
She made a second consecutive junior grand slam final in the girls' singles at the Australian Open, defeating Australians Tahlia Kokkinis[15] and Emerson Jones[16] in the quarter-final and semi-final respectively, before beating American Kristina Penickova in straight sets the final.[17] Alongside Mika Stojsavljevic, she also reached the quarter finals of the at the girls doubles at the Championships.[18]
Sonobe qualified to make her WTA Tour main-draw debut at the WTA 500 Abu Dhabi Open and recorded her first tour-level win over Yuan Yue in the first round.[19][20] She lost in the second round to Ons Jabeur.[21]
Sonobe announced that she turned professional on 8 October 2025.[22]
ITF Circuit finals
Singles: 4 (1 title, 3 runner-ups)
|
|
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 0–1 | Sep 2022 | ITF Cancún, Mexico | W15 | Hard |  Ava Markham |
3–6, 6–3, 1–6 |
| Loss | 0–2 | Sep 2023 | ITF Hilton Head, United States | W15 | Clay |  Sophia Biolay |
6–4, 2–6, 4–6 |
| Loss | 0–3 | Apr 2024 | ITF Kuršumlijska Banja, Serbia | W15 | Clay |  Carmen Andreea Herea |
6–7(6), 6–4, 4–6 |
| Win | 1–3 | Apr 2025 | Ando Securities Open, Japan | W100 | Hard | Ena Shibahara |
6–4, 6–7(1), 6–3 |
Doubles: 4 (4 runner-ups)
|
|
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 0–1 | Sep 2023 | ITF Hilton Head, United States | W15 | Clay |  Lucciana Pérez Alarcón |
 Hsu Chieh-yu Mia Yamakita |
2–6, 5–7 |
| Loss | 0–2 | Mar 2024 | ITF Campinas, Brazil | W15 | Clay |  Júlia Konishi Camargo Silva |
Jaeda Daniel  Maria Kononova |
0–6, 7–6(3), [4–10] |
| Loss | 0–3 | Jun 2025 | ITF Caserta, Italy | W75 | Clay |  Ariana Geerlings |
Cho I-hsuan Cho Yi-tsen |
3–6, 6–7(5) |
| Loss | 0–4 | Jul 2025 | Championnats de Granby, Canada | W75 | Hard | Saki Imamura |
 Alexandra Vagramov  Darja Viďmanová |
6–7(5), 3–6 |
Junior finals
Grand Slam tournaments
Singles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)
| Result | Year | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 2024 | US Open | Hard |  Mika Stojsavljevic |
4–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 2025 | Australian Open | Hard | Kristina Penickova |
6–0, 6-1 |
