Doubles specialist Ena Shibahara gives singles a spin, strikes gold at US Open—but No. 1 Iga Swiatek looms

NEW YORK—Iga Swiatek’s second round opponent at the 2024 US Open, Ena Shibhara, is no stranger to top tier tennis.

A former No. 4, the California-born Japanese star has won multiple WTA 1000 titles and reached a Grand Slam final only last year—but all in doubles.

The decision to specialize in doubles is often—and unfairly—looked at as the sport’s equivalent of “Those who can’t do, teach,” a last refuge for players with immense talent but ultimately no longer able to pass the physical requirements of a full-scale singles career. But at 26, Shibahara is four years younger than the average Top 10 doubles player, and was even younger when she gave up singles the first time.

“It was very difficult, with a lot of reasons, honestly,” she told me on Tuesday. “COVID was one of them. I just had a higher doubles ranking and being on tour was great. I did have a dream to do well in doubles, and I had an amazing partner, so it was hard to step away from that.”

That partner was Shuko Aoyama, with whom she achieved all of her biggest women’s doubles results. In mixed, she partnered Wesley Koolhof, another doubles specialist, to win Roland Garros in 2022—the same year she achieved her career-high ranking.

But at the end of her most successful season yet, Shibhara shocked tennis insiders when she revealed a plan to upend her life and spend 2024 devoted to reviving a hitherto vestigial singles career.

“I started thinking, ‘It’s now or never, and I’m only getting older,’” she said. “It was definitely hard to get away from it, but I had so many people supporting me and my decision to focus on singles. I’m just really happy and proud of myself. No regrets!”

Shibahara was effectively starting from scratch when she played her first tournament of the season in Nonthaburi, Thailand. Ranked No. 548 and therefore unable to enter the tournaments her doubles ranking could afford, she dropped down to the ITF Pro Circuit to relearn the singles game.

I didn’t think too much about negative outcomes. I thought more about the positives and how, if it went well for me singles, I could play both singles and doubles on tour. Ena Shibahara

“Doubles is very fast and there’s maybe more footwork in doubles than singles, but singles requires way better court coverage,” she said.

“I know I have a lot of weapons but it was a challenge to figure out how to use them.”

Armed with the variety and all-court game doubles encourages, Shibahara began 2024 with modest goals even as went 21-5 in her first six tournaments, defeating American teenager Iva Jovic to win her first career singles title at a W35 in Spring, Texas.

“My goal at the beginning of the season actually was to make a Slam qualies draw,” she revealed, less than a week after achieving that goal in Flushing Meadows.

“I was a couple spots out of qualies here and then literally a day before the draw was made, I got last in. I was talking to so many people like, ‘I’m 10 out right now,’ and then, ‘I’m six out right now.’ Everyone was like, ‘Oh my gosh, you’re almost there!’

“But finally getting in, it was my goal but also it felt ahead of schedule, so I’m just happy I could embrace it and do as well as I am right now. I want to keep going.”

Shibahara won two three-setters in four days to make her major main-draw debut in singles. Once there, she showed off that improved court coverage to outlast former world No. 45 Daria Saville in a 10-point match tiebreaker.

Swiatek will represent her biggest test—quite literally the biggest test—of her newly-honed singles skills. Unlike many of the Top 100 singles players, the world No. 1 is almost never seen on a doubles court, making one of the most ubiquitous forces in the sport an unfamiliar opponent for Shibahara.

“Look, I’ve just been having fun. I missed singles, and every single match was a learning experience for me,” said Shibahara, who cited strong support from her former fellow doubles specialists as she embarked on this new endeavor. “If singles didn’t work out for me, I knew I always have doubles to fall back on, and I could still have a good career.

“But I didn’t think too much about negative outcomes. I thought more about the positives and how, if it went well for me singles, I could play both singles and doubles on tour.”

Unburdened by what she has temporarily given up, Shibahara, who is projected to break into the Top 150 after this tournament, is instead focused on what can be: a full schedule on tennis’ top tier.