Professional Career
Matsuoka turned professional in 1986. In 1989, he finished runner-up in the top-level tournament at Wellington, and captured the doubles title in Auckland. 1991 saw Matsuoka achieve his career-best Masters result, when he reached the quarter-finals of the 1991 Canada Masters in Montreal, beating Pete Sampras in a dramatic 3-set match en route.
In 1992, Matsuoka became the first Japanese player to win a singles event on the ATP Tour when he captured the title in Seoul. He was also runner-up at the prestigious grass court tournament at Queen's Club that year.
Matsuoka's best performance at a Grand Slam event came at Wimbledon in 1995, where he reached the quarter-finals before being knocked out by Pete Sampras. Matsuoka won the first set but Sampras came back to win 6–7, 6–3, 6–4, 6–2.
At the US Open in 1995, Matsuoka was left writhing in pain on court while suffering from a severe case of leg cramps during his first round match against Petr Korda. The rules at the time meant that Matsuoka would have forfeited the match if he had gotten medical attention, so he was left to suffer until he was defaulted for delaying the match. The incident led to a change in the rules of professional tennis to allow players to receive medical treatment for cramps during matches.
Matsuoka's career-high rankings were World No. 46 in singles (in 1992) and World No. 95 in doubles (in 1989). His career prize-money earnings totalled $1,117,112. He retired from the professional tour in April 1998.
Read more about this topic: Shuzo Matsuoka
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