{{Short description|Japanese tennis player (1904–2006)}} {{Infobox tennis biography | name = Hyotaro Sato | image = | fullname = | country_represented = {{JPN}} | birth_date = {{birth date|1904|06|01|df=yes}} | birth_place = Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture, Japan | death_date = {{death date and age|2006|04|12|1904|06|01|df=yes}} | death_place = | height = | plays = | careerprizemoney = | singlesrecord = | singlestitles = | highestsinglesranking = | FrenchOpenresult = 4R (1931) | Wimbledonresult = 2R (1931) |native_name=佐藤俵太郎|native_name_lang=ja}} '''Hyotaro Sato''' (1 June 1904 – 12 April 2006) was a Japanese tennis player.<ref name="JTA">{{cite web |title=プレーヤー:詳細ページ- 日本テニス協会公式サイト[JTA] |url=https://www.jta-tennis.or.jp/player/tabid/198/pdid/124/Default.aspx |website=www.jta-tennis.or.jp |access-date=31 December 2022 |language=Japanese}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Japan's Challenge For Davis Cup |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000640/19291216/284/0011 |work=Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette |date=16 December 1929}}</ref>

Born in Yokkaichi, Sato studied at Kwansei Gakuin University.<ref name="JTA"/>

In 1930 and 1931 he toured with the Japan Davis Cup team, giving him the opportunity to feature in overseas tournaments. This included two appearances at the Wimbledon Championships. He won the Swiss and Düsseldorf international championships in 1930, beating Harry Hopman in the final of the latter. In 1931 he reached the fourth round of the French Championships, which included wins over René de Buzelet and Béla von Kehrling, before losing in five sets to the third seeded Christian Boussus. He was victorious in six of his eight Davis Cup singles rubbers.<ref name="JTA"/>

Sato became the first Japanese player to join the professional ranks in 1937.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article249706544 |title=Hyotaro Sato Signs With Big Bill Tilden |newspaper=The Tribune |date=3 December 1936 |accessdate=31 December 2022 |page=12 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

==See also== *List of Japan Davis Cup team representatives

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{ATP}} * {{Davis Cup player}} * {{ITF}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sato, Hyotaro}} Category:1904 births Category:2006 deaths Category:Japanese male tennis players Category:Sportspeople from Yokkaichi Category:Kwansei Gakuin University alumni Category:Japanese men centenarians Category:20th-century Japanese sportsmen