Veronika Kudermetova captured her second career title on Sunday with a 7-5, 6-1 win over second-seeded Jessica Pegula in the final of the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.
The eighth-seeded Russian won 65.4 percent of her first serves to claim her first championship since winning in Charleston in April 2021.
Kudermetova, 26, also benefited from three double faults from Pegula to win the match in 84 minutes.
Pegula was unsuccessful in her quest for her second title of the season.
China Open
Top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus breezed to a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Sofia Kenin in a first-round match in Beijing.
Sabalenka, the world’s top-ranked player, recorded 22 winners against just nine unforced errors to topple the 31st-ranked Kenin in 67 minutes.
Eighth-seeded Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic and countrywoman Barbora Krejcikova were not as fortunate. Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina rebounded from a first-set misstep by posting a 1-6, 6-4, 6-1 win over Vondrousova, while Russian Mirra Andreeva notched a 6-2, 6-2 victory over the 10th-seeded Krejcikova.
Thirteenth-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia bounced back from dropping the first set to secure a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Eva Lys of Germany.
–Field Level Media
