People :
Aiming at becoming a professional tennis player
Ms. Junri NAMIGATA

Ms. Namigata was born in Saitama prefecture in 1982. She graduated from Horikoshi High School, and now she is a senior at the School of Social Sciences. She is in Prof. Haruo Kataoka’s seminar, and is on the tennis team. When she was in the first year of high school, she was one of the 16 best players in the All Japan Tennis Championship. Two years later, she took the crown in the All Japan Junior Tennis Championship. In 2001, she won the intercollegiate doubles championship, was the runner-up in the singles division, and was a member of the championship team in the “Oza” competition. This year, she won the victory in the intercollegiate singles division, and was a member of the team that took the crown in the Kanto Universities’ League. She has received high scores in many other competitions as well. Her hobby is cooking desserts, especially tiramisu and cheesecake.

Ms. Namigata really loves tennis. Influenced by her parents, she has held a racket as long as she can remember. When she was in the third grade, she took the crown in the regional competition. From that point on, her interest in tennnis greatly increased. When she was in junior high school, as soon as class were over, she would go to a well-known tennis school and practice intensively. Unlike ordinary teenage girls, she devoted herself to tennis so that she had no time to chat with her friends or follow the latest fashions. When she was in the first year of high school, she was one of the 16 best players in the All Japan Tennis Championship. Two years later, she took the crown in the All Japan Junior Tennis Championship.

Ms. Namigata decided to go to college because “going professional did not seem like a very attractive choice, although I did think about it”. Still, it was difficult for her to abandon the idea of becoming a professional player. However, "Japanese players can play for a long time. I thought that it would not be too late if I turn professional after I graduated from college," said Ms. Namigata. She chose Waseda because of its attractive facilities.

She has fulfilled the expectations of her teammates. When she was a freshman, she made a brilliant debut at the intercollegiate championships. She took the crown in the doubles and came out second best in the singles. In addition, she led her team to victory in the team competition “Oza”. Since then, however, life at the top has been something of a struggle. The following year, she suffered from backache, and last year, she had to drop out in the fourth round of the intercollegiate singles. “Ever since I entered the university, I had wanted the title of intercollegiate singles.” She resisted her desire to hit balls and concentrated on increasing her strength. That effort made her stronger not only physically but also mentally. This year, she defeated her opponent in the finals with overwhelming power.

Ms. Namigata has decided to become professional player after graduation. “To be active in the demanding world of professional tennis, I will need to be stronger in body and mind. I have a feeling that it will be very hard. But now that I’ve achieved my goals in college, I am looking forward to being a professional and devoting my life to tennis!”, Ms. Namigata said. She came out second best at an international competition held in Korea this spring and is confident that she can compete on the international tennis circuit . She is aiming for a ranking in the top 200 in her first year of international competition. For the immediate future, though, she wants to reach at least the quarterfinals of the Japan Championships this fall. The day is certainly close when the name “Namigata” will resound world-wide in the field of tennis.