Topic: Takao Suzuki

Takao Suzuki (Japanese 鈴木貴男, b. September 20, 1976 in Sapporo, Japan) is a professional tennis player on the ATP Tour from Japan. He reached a career high ranking in singles of 102 in the world in 1998 and has earned nearly three fifths of a million dollars in prize winnings on the ATP Tour. He is well-known for his outstanding performance against Roger Federer at the Australian Open in 2005. Although Suzuki lost to Federer in straight sets (6–3, 6–4, 6–4), Suzuki challenged Federer in many of the games and put up a close battle in each of the sets he lost. In 2006, Suzuki injured his shoulder at the Australian Open qualifying tournament in a match against Paul Capdeville and sat out most of the season as a result. He briefly returned to competitive tennis in May in a challenger tournament in South Korea and lost in the quarter finals. In October 2006, Suzuki played in his first International Series event of the year, the Japan Open Tennis Championships held in Tokyo, having received a wildcard into the main draw. Suzuki, ranked 1078 in the world at the time, won surprise victories over eighth seeded Paradorn Srichaphan and world number 126 Alexander Waske en route to his quarter finals berth against Federer. Suzuki once again lost to Federer in three tight sets, 6–4, 5–7, 6–7(3) .