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Rika Hiraki

Tennis is an outdoor sport which can be played between two players or four players. This game started in England and was the most popular amongst the upper class of society. Presently tennis is played in various tournaments including the four Grand Slams in many countries. There are three different court surfaces it is played on namely, clay court, grass court and hardcourt.

One of the renowned players of the epoch in tennis is Rika Hiraki. She is one of the finest tennis players with an international repute and recognition as the all time great professional. Rika was born on December 6, 1971 in the Beirut suburb of Lebanon. A 5 feet 2 inches tall contender with a weight of 99 pounds acquired a right-handed, two-handed both sides backhand playing style. She started playing tennis through the interest and enthusiasm in the sport when she watched the players battling for victories on the court at championship matches.

Rika’s career highlights reveal her great performances including the singles title at the WTA, Women’s Tennis Association tour of 1990 at Matsuyama. She also reached the semifinals at the 1991 Japan Open, Pattaya City and also drafted the doubles title in the 1997 with Miyagi Tokyo at the Japan Open. She also posted a winning performance with Dechaume-Balleret, Guse, Kijimuta, Frazier and Labat. She was a finalist contender at the 1999 Kuala Lumpur title match, 1998 Japan Open match, 1995 Nagoya title match and many more.

Rika reached the semifinals at Japan Open in 1991 as a qualifier and at her next event in Pattaya City. She was the only qualifier to reach the third round at Australian Open in 1996 and ranked at the number 109 position. However, after setting up strong performances in the doubles, she suffered an ankle sprain during a mixed doubles match at Roland Garros in 2000 and missed most of the action for the rest of the year. Later, in 2002, she competed in Wimbledon doubles with Freye, falling to eventual sister champions Williams in the first round. She was nominated for the 1998 WTA Tour Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship, for 1991 WTA Tour Most Impressive Newcomer Award and was elected to the WTA Tour Players Association Board of Directors in 1996.

Rika was a dominating player both in the singles and doubles games which earned her the top ten rankings in overall career. Most of her successful events, however, came in the doubles.

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