Early years Having had moderate success on the
ITF Junior Circuit – reaching a career high ranking of 55 – Obata made her WTA Tour-level professional debut in 1996, at the age of 18, at the Tier IV event at Surabaya, where she lost to
Hila Rosen in qualifying, in straight sets. However, she subsequently qualified for Tier IV events in Beijing and Pattaya, and played a number of Asian WTA Tour events in the subsequent two years. However, her first big breakthrough tournament came in 2000, when she reached the quarterfinals of the Tier IV tournament in Shanghai as a qualifier, with wins over
Lilia Osterloh and
Yuka Yoshida, before falling to
Meghann Shaughnessy. She ended 2000 ranked inside the top 200, at No. 161.
2001 Her first full season of regular tour-level tennis started at the Tier V tournament in Hobart, where she qualified for the main draw, before losing to
Anna Smashnova in two close sets. She then attempted to qualify for the
Australian Open, beating
Alena Vašková and
Angelika Rösch, before falling in the final qualifying round to
Laurence Andretto in three sets. Obata then had a breakthrough tournament in the highest-tier
Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, winning through qualifying by beating top seed
Kristie Boogert, wildcard
Kumiko Iijima and
Janette Husárová. She then beat fellow qualifier
Katarina Srebotnik in the first round, before finally falling to third seed
Anna Kournikova in a close three-setter. She struggled in the next three tournaments, losing in the first round in
Acapulco,
Indian Wells and
Key Biscayne, before dropping back down to ITF-level at the $25k event in
Stone Mountain. As seventh seed, she won one round against wildcard
Erin Burdette before losing to
Marion Maruska. In Japan's
Fed Cup tie against Argentina, Obata played two singles matches – losing in straight sets to
María Emilia Salerni, before beating
Clarisa Fernández by retirement. Saori returned to winning ways in May, participating in two Japanese $50k events. In Gifu, she beat
Christina Wheeler, compatriot
Akiko Morigami and
Annabel Ellwood before losing to second seed
Alicia Molik in three sets in the semifinals. She then reached the final of
Fukuoka, beating
Bryanne Stewart,
Haruka Inoue,
Adriana Barna, and
Lenka Dlhopolcova, before losing again to Molik in the final, in straight sets. She lost in straight sets in the second round of qualifying at the
French Open to Canadian
Marie-Ève Pelletier. The grass-court season saw her struggle to win consistently, reaching the second round of the $25k event in Surbiton with a win over Brit
Lucie Ahl before a third successive loss to Molik, while at the
Birmingham Classic she beat
Dragana Zarić in qualifying before losing to
Eleni Daniilidou. She entered the main draw as a
lucky loser, but lost in straight sets to 15th seed
Anne-Gaëlle Sidot. At
Wimbledon, she again reached the final round of qualifying by beating two British wildcards, Alice Barnes and
Helen Crook, before again losing in straight sets to Daniilidou. In the North American hardcourt swing, Obata again struggled to string wins together. She lost early in qualifying for
San Diego to
Jennifer Hopkins, before an impressive win over
Anastasia Myskina in the opening qualifying round of the Tier II event at
Manhattan Beach Open Tennis Tournament, before falling to
Alexandra Stevenson. She then moved on to the $50k
Bronx Open, again defeating Boogert in the opening round before losing to
Martina Müller. As the qualifying 16th seed at the
US Open, she beat
Mashona Washington in the opening round before exiting to
Samantha Reeves. After a first round exit at the Tier IV event in
Waikoloa to
Lisa Raymond, Obata received a wildcard into the
Toyota Princess Cup in Tokyo, beating qualifier
Shiho Hisamatsu in the opening round. She then lost to fourth seed
Sandrine Testud, in three sets. She got another wildcard into the
Japan Open, beating
Alexandra Fusai and
Marlene Weingärtner, before losing heavily to second seed
Tamarine Tanasugarn in the quarter-finals. In the Tier IV event in Shanghai, she lost to
Monica Seles in the second round having dispatched a young
Li Na in the opener. A further second-round loss in Pattaya saw Obata decide to finish the season at challenger level with two $25k tournaments in Port Pirie and Nuriootpa, South Australia. As the top seed, she won the tournament in Port Pirie, beating
Yuliya Beygelzimer,
Amanda Grahame, Christina Wheeler,
Jaslyn Hewitt and
Pavlina Nola. She also won, as second seed, her final tournament of the year in Nuriootpa, beating qualifier Anouk Sterk,
Samantha Stosur, Wheeler again,
Bryanne Stewart, and
Cho Yoon-jeong in the final. These two tournament wins meant Obata finished the year ranked just outside the top 100 at 116, but had cracked the top 100 for the first time during the year at 94.
2002 Obata started the year with a warm-up tournament in Australia in
Canberra, where she qualified for the main draw, defeating
Miho Saeki,
Maureen Drake and Lucie Ahl, before falling in the opening round to Anna Smashnova, 1–6, 3–6. She then made her debut in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament at the
Australian Open as a direct entrant. She lost in straight sets to
Maria Elena Camerin. She then qualified for the Tier I
Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, beating
Jill Craybas,
Jennifer Hopkins and Alicia Molik to reach the main draw. She then fell in straight sets to the seventh seed
Elena Dementieva. Obata then entered the Tier III event in
Memphis, but lost 6–7(6), 4–6 in the first round to Japanese number one,
Ai Sugiyama. She then lost to
Evelyn Fauth in the opening round of a $50k event in
Minneapolis. Obata then played singles and doubles matches in the
Fed Cup Asia–Oceania Group B, winning three of her four matches to help seal promotion to the
World Group. After an early loss in Miami, Obata dropped down to challenger level to gain some confidence and wins. She reached the quarter finals of the $25k event in
Lawrenceville as top seed, by defeating
Laura Granville and
Dessislava Topalova, before a defeat to qualifier
Teryn Ashley. She then lost to Ashley again in a $50k event at Naples in the first round. Obata then went back to Japan to play two more Challenger events in
Gifu and
Fukuoka. She defeated
Hannah Collin and
Ayami Takase to reach the quarterfinals of the former – losing to
Jeon Mi-ra – and reached the second round in the latter with another win over Takase, before close three-set loss to
Nana Miyagi. At
Roland Garros, where she made her main draw debut, Obata lost 6–0, 2–6, 0–6 to
Alina Jidkova. The grass-court season started badly for Obata, with first-round losses in the
Surbiton challenger to
Tara Snyder, and in the first round in
Birmingham to
Dája Bedáňová. Despite a win over
Stéphanie Foretz Gacon in the first round of
Eastbourne qualifying, she fell to a surprising defeat to
Wynne Prakusya in the next round. However, she achieved her first main draw
Grand Slam win at
Wimbledon with a comprehensive 6–1, 6–3 over former semifinalist Alexandra Stevenson. She lost 2–6, 2–6 to
Eleni Daniilidou in the second round. After her Slam breakthrough, Obata followed up by reaching the final of the $50k event in
Louisville, before losing to top seed Alina Jidkova. However, she then lost in the first round of the next $50k event in
Lexington to
Lindsay Lee-Waters. She qualified for the Tier I event in
Montreal, defeating
Marie-Gaïané Mikaelian and Jidkova, before losing to Anna Kournikova in straight sets. Her final US Open warm-up event was in New Haven, where she lost in straight sets in the first round of qualifying to
Émilie Loit. In the US Open main draw, she was drawn against 12th seed Elena Dementieva, but lost 2–6, 4–6. Obata then moved on to the Asian swing for her final tournaments of 2002, but lost to Sugiyama in the first round of the Tier IV event in Shanghai, and in three sets to
Patricia Wartusch in the opening round of the
Toyota Princess Cup. She got back to winning ways in the Tier III event in Bali, with straight sets wins over Jill Craybas and
Emmanuelle Gagliardi, before a three-set loss to
Arantxa Sánchez Vicario in the quarterfinals. She finished her year with two straight sets, first-round losses at the Japan Open to
Jelena Kostanić Tošić and in Pattaya to
Adriana Serra Zanetti. She ended the year ranked just outside the top 100 at 108.
2003 Obata started the year with by qualifying for the Tier V WTA event in Canberra, defeating
Claudine Schaul, top seed
Dally Randriantefy and
Tatiana Poutchek to reach the main draw. She then defeated
Virginia Ruano Pascual in the first round, before losing to unseeded Italian Adriana Serra Zanetti. She then failed to qualify for the Australian Open main draw, losing in the final round of qualifying to María Emilia Salerni, in straight sets. After the Australian Open, she lost in the first round of the
Pan Pacific Open to
Magdalena Maleeva, before gaining revenge against Adriana Serra Zanetti for her Canberra defeat in the opening round of the
Hyderabad Open, in straight sets. She then lost to fifth seed
Iroda Tulyaganova. Obata then reached the quarterfinals of the Memphis Tier III tournament, defeating Canadian
Vanessa Webb and fourth seed Alexandra Stevenson, before losing to Cho Yoon-jeong. It was at this tournament that she won her sole WTA Tour doubles title, together with
Akiko Morigami. After withdrawing from Scottsdale before playing, she lost in qualifying at the
Indian Wells Open to 11th seed Maureen Drake, after defeating
Olga Barabanschikova in the opening round. She then lost in qualifying at tournaments in Key Biscayne, Sarasota and Charleston. Obata played two singles matches in Japan's Fed Cup Asia-Oceania qualifying group matches against
New Zealand and Hong Kong, winning both her singles matches. Saori then had two very successful ITF events in Japan, reaching the final of the $50k grass-court event in Gifu as second seed, defeating
Julie Pullin,
Tomoko Yonemura, Maria Elena Camerin, and
Rika Fujiwara, before losing to top seed and rival
Shinobu Asagoe. She then, as top seed. won the $50k tournament in Fukuoka on carpet, defeating
Seiko Okamoto,
Nana Miyagi,
Jarmila Gajdošová,
Zi Yan and then Maria Elena Camerin in the final. At the French Open, she lost in the first round to American
Ashley Harkleroad 6–4, 6–2. She made a further breakthrough in the grass-court season. Despite first-round losses at the
Surbiton Trophy and
Birmingham Classic tournaments, she won through qualifying at the Tier II
Eastbourne tournament. She then achieved a notable scalp in the opening round, when she defeated
Jelena Dokić in straight sets when Dokić was ranked 11th in the world. She then lost in a final-set tiebreak in the second round to Anna Smashnova. She then made her debut appearance on
No. 1 Court at
Wimbledon in the first round, where she held three match points against 21st seed
Elena Bovina before losing 6–7(5), 6–2, 6–8. The North American hardcourt season brought mixed fortunes – with Obata reaching the main draw at San Diego (as a lucky loser) but losing to
Lina Krasnoroutskaya, before winning a round as a
wildcard in Los Angeles against
Virginie Razzano, before losing to compatriot and fourth seed
Ai Sugiyama. At the Tier I tournament in Toronto, Obata qualified and defeated compatriot
Shinobu Asagoe in the first round, before falling to seventh seed
Amanda Coetzer. Her final tournament before the
US Open was at New Haven, where she lost in the final round in qualifying, but was selected as a
lucky loser. She lost to former Wimbledon champion
Conchita Martínez. However, she subsequently achieved her best Grand Slam performance to date, reaching the US Open third round, defeating qualifier
Sun Tiantian 6–2, 7–5 in the first round, and then overcoming
Marie-Gaïané Mikaelian 7–5, 6–4 in the second. She was then defeated 6–1, 6–2 by second seed
Justine Henin. After her US Open success, Obata saw her best success to date in WTA tournaments as a singles player. She reached the semifinals of the Tier III tournament in Bali, defeating Ashley Harkleroad,
Barbara Schett and
Angelique Widjaja, before finally falling to
Chanda Rubin in straight sets. After losing in the first round of the Japan Open to
Jill Craybas, she then reached her only WTA singles final at
Tashkent Open. She achieved wins against Tatiana Poutchek,
Zheng Jie,
Jelena Kostanić Tošić and
Emmanuelle Gagliardi. She faced Virginia Ruano Pascual in the final, but fell short 2–6, 6–7(2). She ended her season at the Tier V tournament in Pattaya, winning two rounds before falling to Slovakian
Ľubomíra Kurhajcová, ensuring her highest-ever year-end ranking of 49.
2005 Following her disastrous end to 2004, Obata played qualifying in her usual Australian warm-up tournament in Canberra. She extended her losing streak to 12 in all competitions, losing in three sets to
Maret Ani. Her streak then extended to 13 with a first-round loss in the Australian Open in straight sets to
Mariana Díaz Oliva. Obata finally ended her losing run with a win over wild card
Miho Saeki at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, earning a second round meeting with top seed
Lindsay Davenport, where she put in a creditable performance in a 3–6, 4–6 loss. Having seen her ranking drop yet further, Obata entered the $50k event at Saint Paul, Minnesota, winning more than one match in a tournament for the first time in nearly nine months. After defeating
Teryn Ashley,
Simona Matei and
Sandra Klösel, she exited in the semifinal to
Laura Granville. She then lost easily in first round of qualifying for Indian Wells to Shikha Uberoi, before deciding to drop back down to the ITF Circuit. In the $50k tournament in Orange, California, she failed to qualify – losing to
Lenka Němečková 2–6, 0–6 in the final round. She then fell to a disappointing loss in the second round of the $25k event in Redding, California, falling in a final set tiebreak to
Julie Ditty. Despite her relatively poor results and subdued ranking, Obata hit a rich vein of form in two challenger in events in
Augusta, Georgia, and Gifu. The $25k event in Augusta saw her win the title as sixth seed, without dropping a set. She defeated compatriot
Seiko Okamoto in the first round 6–2, 6–4, then overcame
Ivana Lisjak 6–2, 6–1. In the quarterfinals, she eased past
Varvara Lepchenko 6–2, 6–2 and then won a closer match against
Anastasia Rodionova, winning out 7–6(5), 6–1. In the final, Obata overcame a young
Victoria Azarenka with ease, winning 6–2, 6–2. In the $50k event in Gifu, Obata was seeded fourth and again won the title. In the first four rounds, she didn't drop a set – defeating
Casey Dellacqua 6–1, 6–1, then New Zealand qualifier
Marina Erakovic 6–2, 6–4, before winning against fellow Japanese player Ayumi Morita 6–0, 6–4. Obata then reached her second successive final with a 6–4, 6–3 win over top seed
Aiko Nakamura. She dropped her only set of the week in the final against countrywoman
Shiho Hisamatsu, but won her second title in a row. Despite her improved form, Obata lost in the first round of qualifying (as 23rd seed) on the clay of Roland Garros, defeated by
Maria Fernanda Alves 4–6, 6–2, 6–3. Going on to grass, Saori lost a tight opening round at the $25k event in Surbiton to South African qualifier
Surina De Beer, losing in three sets. But she picked up a couple of wins to make the main draw of the Tier III event in Birmingham, beating wildcard
Katie O'Brien in the first qualifying round, and then beat
Sofia Arvidsson in three sets to qualify. She then lost a tight three-set match to
María Vento-Kabchi in the opening round, losing 5–7 in the final set. At Wimbledon, Obata beat
Hana Šromová,
Jessica Kirkland and Eva Birnerová to reach the main draw, before losing to American
Marissa Irvin in round one. With a ranking still too low to reach the main draw of the US Open, Obata went into the North American hard court swing needing wins to make it into the top 100. At the Tier I event at San Diego, she beat
Varvara Lepchenko and Alexandra Stevenson to reach the main draw but lost a tough three-set match to
Gisela Dulko in the opening round. She then lost in the final round of qualifying of the Los Angeles Tier II event, but lost to
Kateryna Bondarenko. She made the main draw as a lucky loser, but lost to qualifier
Tathiana Garbin. In the final warm-up tournament before the US Open, she beat
Tatiana Panova in the first round of qualifying for the Tier I event in Toronto, but lost to
Lucie Šafářová in the final qualifying round. Obata then rounded off a disappointing North American swing with a loss in the first round of qualifying at the US Open to sixth seed Hana Šromová whom she had beaten two months previously at the same stage of Wimbledon. Obata started the Asian swing with a disappointing loss in the second round of qualifying in the Tier II tournament in Beijing, before making it through three rounds of qualifying in Seoul. She then beat
María Vento-Kabchi in the first round, before going out to eighth seed
Marion Bartoli. She then received a wildcard into the Tier III Japan Open, and won her opening round against
Martina Suchá, before losing 1–6, 4–6 to third seed Tatiana Golovin. She moved on to the Tier III event in Bangkok, winning through qualifying with wins over
Carly Gullickson, Natalie Grandin and top seed
Shenay Perry. She also won her opening round against
Mashona Washington 6–2, 6–3, before falling to top seed
Nadia Petrova 3–6, 2–6. Obata then suffered a disappointing first-round loss as top seed to
Kim Jin-hee in the first round of the $50k event in Busan. Her final Asian event of the year was in Shenzhen for a $50k event, where she reached the semifinals, beating Sisi Qiu,
Sun Shengnan and
Tomoko Yonemura before losing to
Tamarine Tanasugarn in straight sets. Her final event of the year, in December, was a first round loss in the $50k event in Palm Beach Gardens to
Alisa Kleybanova. After a mixed year, Obata ended the year ranked 108 – placing her on the cusp of automatic entry to the Australian Open.
2006 Obata's ranking was enough to give her entry to the main draw of the Australian Open, and she started her year with her regular warm-up tournament in
Canberra. As third seed in qualifying, she suffered a surprising loss to
Tatiana Poutchek, 4–6, 4–6 in the opening round. At the Australian Open, she lost a three set match to 17th seed to
Daniela Hantuchová. This would prove to be her final Grand Slam match. Saori entered qualifying for the Tier I event at the
Pan Pacific Open, where she'd had success before. She beat wildcards
Angelique Widjaja (6–2, 6–2) and
Brenda Schultz-McCarthy (6–3, 7–5), before sealing qualification by beating
Shiho Hisamatsu 6-2, 6–2. In the main draw, she easily defeated
Květa Peschke 6–2, 6–1 in the opening round, before losing 4–6, 4–6 to fifth seed Nicole Vaidišová. This tournament meant she re-entered the top 100 rankings at 99. Obata then moved on to the Tier IV event in Pattaya where she lost in the first round of qualifying to
Hsieh Su-wei. In March, Saori entered the $75k event in Las Vegas where, as sixth seed, she defeated Varvara Lepchenko in the opening round, before a 6–3, 6–2 over Swede
Hanna Nooni. This would be her final win on tour, as she fell to
Angela Haynes in the quarterfinal. Obata's final tournament and match was at Indian Wells on 19 March, where she was drawn against qualifier
Camille Pin and lost 2–6, 2–6. In late May 2006, Obata confirmed she had retired from tennis due to a foot injury she had picked up at Indian Wells. She said her best memories from tennis were her first Wimbledon and being on the final at Tashkent.
Career achievements She won a doubles title at WTA-level (Memphis 2003, with
Akiko Morigami), and five
ITF-level singles titles. Her final
Grand Slam appearance was at the 2006 Australian Open where she lost in the opening round, having qualified, to
Daniela Hantuchová in three sets. She retired from professional tennis in June 2006 because of injury. ==WTA Tour finals==