Austria’s Lilli Tagger improved to 2-0 this year against Liudmila Samsonova of Russia with a 6-3, 6-3 upset of the No. 5 seed in the first round of the Japan Open on Monday in Osaka.
Tagger converted all three break points while not facing any on her serve, finishing with more than twice as many winners as unforced errors (19-9) in the 72-minute victory.
It wasn’t the only upset of the day, as Ashlyn Krueger ousted sixth-seeded Janice Tjen of Indonesia 6-4, 6-4. Krueger came away with the only breaks of the match at 4-4 in the first set and 3-3 in the second, winning 81% of her first-serve points and 80% of her second-serve points.
No. 4 Talia Gibson of Australia was the only seeded competitor to win her opener Monday, edging Great Britain’s Harriet Dart 7-5, 7-6 (6). Austria’s Sinja Kraus was leading 6-4, 3-1, when Caty McNally retired. Lanlanna Tararudee of Thailand and Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic also won in straight sets, while eighth-seeded Brit Katie Boulter led 6-3, 3-1 over Japan’s Himeno Sakatsume when play was suspended due to rain.
Ningbo Open
Leylah Fernandez of Canada rallied for a 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 defeat of seventh-seeded Belgian Elise Mertens in a first-round match in China.
Fernandez overcame a sloppy performance, which saw her pair one ace with 11 double faults and 28 winners with 42 unforced errors. She saved seven of 14 break points while converting seven of 12 in the 2-hour, 49-minute battle.
No. 8 seed Sorana Cirstea of Romania, the only other seeded competitor in action, swept China’s Han Shi 6-3, 6-2. Alexandra Eala of the Philippines beat France’s Diane Parry 6-3, 6-1 and Czech Marie Bouzkova beat Kamilla Rakhimova of Uzbekistan 6-4, 6-4 to set up a second-round match against No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek of Poland. Belarus’ Aliaksandra Sasnovich bested Australia’s Daria Kasatkina 6-4, 6-2.
–Field Level Media
