Yosuke Watanuki

Yosuke Watanuki is a Japanese professional tennis player who has competed on the ATP Tour since 2016.

Yosuke Watanuki was born in Saitama, Japan on 12 April 1998. His father, Hirotsugu, and mother, Chizuru, are tennis coaches. Watanuki was inspired to start playing tennis after watching his father and two brothers playing whilst he was growing up.

In 2014, Watanuki made his ITF Futures debut in Japan and tried to step up to Challenger level in 2015. However, he struggled to get past qualifying in his first Challenger events. After reverting to the ITF Futures level, Watanuki made great strides and won two competitions in 2016. He also reached number two in the junior rankings in March 2016.

Watanuki won two further Futures titles in 2017 - both in Japan - and regularly reached Challenger main draws in this season. By 2018, the Japanese player was progressing deep in Challenger events as he made the semi-finals at Busan and Loughborough.

Moreover, he made his ATP debut at the 2018 Citi Open but lost to Danill Medvedev in round one. Months later, Watanuki reached the Japan Open main draw and progressed to the round of 16, eventually losing to Milos Raonic. Watanuki ended 2018 in good form at Challenger level too, progressing to his first final in Kobe and losing to compatriot Tatsuma Ito.

In 2019, Watanuki attempted to qualify for all four Grand Slams but couldn’t get past qualifying. However, he was consistent at Challenger level and made the Kobe Open final for a second year running. In addition, the Japanese player notched his first-ever Challenger title at the event after defeating Yuichi Sugita.

Watanuki’s 2020 season was largely disrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But he did make another Challenger final in Cleveland in February. In 2021, Watanuki struggled to make it past the qualifying rounds at several ATP 250 events, but eventually produced a decent run at the Winston-Salem Open, making round two. 2022 was a stronger season as Watanuki made his first ATP quarter-final at the Lyon Open, but lost against Alex de Minaur.

Another impressive end to the campaign followed, as the Japanese player made three Challenger finals in Japan and won two. Watanuki’s breakthrough campaign followed in 2023. He progressed to three of the four Grand Slam main draws and reached round two at the Australian Open and the US Open.

Moreover, he performed well at the ATP Masters 1000 level, progressing to round two at the Miami Open, the Madrid Open, and the Shanghai Masters. Due to a solid campaign, Watanuki ended 2023 inside the ATP’s Top 100.