Tagger never blinks in Osaka
Seventy-two minutes. That is all Lilli Tagger needed to dispatch fifth seed Liudmila Samsonova, 6-3, 6-3, in the first round of the Japan Open on Monday. The Austrian did not face a single break point on her own serve and cashed in all three she created. She hit 19 winners against nine unforced errors, a tidy ledger for an opener against a seeded opponent.
It was also her second win over the Russian this year. At some point a rematch stops being a test and starts being a habit.
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Seeds drop all over the draw
Samsonova was not the only seed to leave. Ashlyn Krueger beat sixth seed Janice Tjen of Indonesia, 6-4, 6-4, breaking at 4-4 in the first set and again at 3-3 in the second. She won 81 percent of her first-serve points and 80 percent on her second serve, numbers that leave a seed very little room to work.
Fourth seed Talia Gibson of Australia was the only seeded player to win her opener on the day, edging Britain’s Harriet Dart 7-5, 7-6 (6). Eighth seed Katie Boulter led Himeno Sakatsume 6-3, 3-1 when rain suspended play, and Sinja Kraus was ahead of Caty McNally 6-4, 3-1 when McNally retired.
Fernandez fights back in Ningbo
In China, Leylah Fernandez came from a set down to beat seventh seed Elise Mertens, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5, in 2 hours and 49 minutes. She saved seven of 14 break points and made 11 double faults along the way, which says plenty about how loose the match got. Alexandra Eala beat France’s Diane Parry, 6-3, 6-1.
Marie Bouzkova won her opener in straight sets, which sets up a second-round meeting with second seed Iga Swiatek.
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