In 1997, Sugiyama began her season by playing her third finals match, losing to Elena Likhovtseva, after defeating Sabine Appelmans in the quarterfinal. The following week she reached the second round at the Australian Open. In April, she won her first professional title at the Japan Open in Tokyo against Amy Frazier. However, she could not reach a good result in Grand Slam events, with a second-round exit at the French Open and US Open and a first round loss at Wimbledon. At the end of the year, she reached her first Tier-I final at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, defeating Natasha Zvereva, No. 14 Brenda Schultz-McCarthy, No. 9 and multi-Grand Slam events winner Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Dominique Van Roost before failing in the final against 1st seed and 2nd-ranked Jana Novotná.