2016: Major debut Shibahara made her
Grand Slam main-draw debut at the
US Open in the doubles event, partnering with
Jada Hart as wildcard entrants, where they lost to seventh seeds
Sania Mirza and
Barbora Strýcová in the first round. Later in the tournament, Shibahara and Hart won the
girls' doubles title.
2019: Focus on doubles, partnership with Shuko Aoyama Shibahara played her first five doubles tournaments of the year with
Hayley Carter winning two titles and reaching another final. This raised her ranking from No. 205 to an entry into the top 100, with a doubles ranking of world No. 98 on May 20.". Shibahara and Aoyama played five more tournaments together in 2019, winning their first two titles at the
Tianjin Open (Shibahara's first WTA Tour-level title) and
Kremlin Cup in Moscow. By the end of the year, Shibahara's WTA doubles ranking was world No. 31. She won seven more titles, five being at the WTA 500 level, during her successful partnership with Aoyama. Also in 2021 Shibahara made her WTA Tour-level main draw debut in singles in
Cleveland as a lucky loser but lost to
Bethanie Mattek-Sands. She became the first Japanese player in 25 years to win the mixed doubles championship in Paris, since
Rika Hiraki and
Mahesh Bhupathi took home the title in 1997.
2023: Major finalist, WTA 1000 doubles title & singles debut At the
Australian Open, she reached the semifinals of a major for the third time in her career, partnering again with Shuko Aoyama. The pair defeated second-seeded pair of
Coco Gauff and
Jessica Pegula to reach their first Grand Slam final. However, they were defeated in straight sets by defending champions, Krejčíková and Siniaková. She won her ninth title at the
Rosmalen Open and her first WTA 1000 title at the
Canadian Open, partnering Aoyama. She qualified for the singles main draw of the WTA 1000
Guadalajara Open but lost to
Karolína Plíšková. In doubles, the pair Shibahara and Aoyama qualified for the
WTA Finals for the second time with a seeding of No. 3 but lost in the round robin stage. She also made her major debut in singles at the
2024 US Open, after qualifying into the main draw. She recorded her first singles win at a major over Australian
Daria Saville, before losing to world No. 1,
Iga Świątek in the second round, in straight sets. She also qualified for the main draw at the WTA 500
Guadalajara Open for the second time and defeated another Australian and fellow qualifier,
Kimberly Birrell, for her second WTA Tour win. She won her 11th doubles title at the
2024 Japan Women's Open in Osaka partnering
Laura Siegemund. Shibahara and Siegemund ended runners-up at the
Pan Pacific Open, losing to Shuko Aoyama and
Eri Hozumi in the final. At the
2025 ATX Open, Shibahara qualified for the main draw and reached her first WTA Tour quarterfinal defeating
Kaja Juvan and again Kimberly Birrell. As a result, she returned to world No. 134 in the singles rankings on 3 March 2025. She also qualified for a consecutive year at the
2025 US Open. ==Performance timeline==