ITF World Tennis Tour Player of the Month: Moyuka Uchijima
Moyuka Uchijima has been named ITF World Tennis Tour Player of the Month for May after a dazzling run of form that culminated in her first Grand Slam match-win at Roland Garros.
Uchijima won three titles – including two at the ITF World Tennis Tour’s highest level - during a 19-match winning streak that finally ended at the hands of world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka in the second round in Paris.
"I'm really happy I was able to achieve a great result last month," she said in a video for ITF World Tennis Tour Instagram. "It was not possible without [my] family, my team and the fans support so thank you so much.
"I will keep working hard for the rest of the season so please keep supporting me!"
Uchijima began the year outside the world’s top 170 but has enjoyed an incredible year so far, claiming five ITF singles titles in total - including three at W100 level – to rocket into the world’s top 80.
Her May, in particular, was mesmerizing.
The 22-year-old from Japan touched down in her home country at the end of April and followed a quarter-final run at W100 Tokyo with the second W100 crown of her career in Gifu.
She made light work of one of the standout performers on the ITF World Tennis Tour in recent times in the final, seeing off Arina Rodionova – who captured seven ITF singles titles in 2023 – 6-3 6-3.
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Uchijima immediately headed back to Europe and switched seamlessly from hard to clay, defeating Mona Barthel 7-6(3) 6-3 in the title decider at W75 Trnava and following a week later with a hard-fought victory over Leyre Romero Gormaz in the W100 Madrid final for the 13th ITF singles crown of her career.
Then on to Roland Garros, where Uchijima had lost in the final round of qualifying on each of her previous two attempts – falling to Jule Niemeier in 2022 and Arantxa Rus in 2023 – but, buoyed by her 15-match winning streak, she made no mistake on her third opportunity.
She coasted through qualifying without dropping a set and recorded her first Grand Slam match-win in style over Irene Burillo Escorihuela in Paris, thumping the Spaniard for the loss of just two games.
It was fitting then, that her standout May would end with an appearance on one of the biggest stages in tennis – on Philippe Chatrier, where, even in a 6-2 6-2 defeat by two-time Australian Open champion Sabalenka in round two, she won a host of fans and showed glimpses of what is undoubtedly still to come.
Moyuka's magic May
- Went on a 19-match winning streak
- Compiled a 15-0 win-loss record on the ITF World Tennis Tour
- Won three titles and went 19-1 in matches overall, 38-8 in sets
- Recorded three bagel (6-0) sets
- Climbed to a career-high WTA ranking of No. 80
- Has now won 13 ITF singles titles, including 9 on hard courts and five on clay