Osaka holds her nerve
Naomi Osaka got through her Tokyo opener, though not without a few anxious moments. The seventh seed beat Italy’s Jasmine Paolini 6-3, 7-6 (4) at the Toray Pan Pacific Open on Tuesday, hitting 30 winners and saving seven of the nine break points she faced.
The first set went her way cleanly. The second was tighter, and she needed a tiebreak to close it. That is where the home crowd got what it wanted.
Osaka has history in this building. She won the tournament in 2019 and finished runner-up in 2016 and 2018, so a first-round exit would have been a letdown for a event she treats as a priority.
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Who is next
Her second-round opponent is 18-year-old Slovak Mia Pohankova, who beat Czech Tereza Valentova 6-1, 6-4. A teenager with nothing to lose is not an easy draw after a match that went the distance.
Elsewhere in Tokyo, Australia’s Maya Joint knocked out sixth seed Sorana Cirstea 6-3, 7-6 (4). Aliaksandra Sasnovich, Leylah Fernandez, Yulia Putintseva, Cristina Busa and Ekaterina Alexandrova also advanced.
At the WTA 250 in Guangzhou, second seed Janice Tjen needed just 58 minutes to beat Polina Kudermetova 6-2, 6-2. In another match there, fourth seed Lilli Tagger beat 46-year-old Venus Williams 6-2, 6-2.
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