Belgium’s Elise Mertens, the No. 3 seed at the WTA 250 Kinoshita Group Japan Open in Osaka, drew level with Spain’s Cristina Bucsa with a straight-sets win, while seeds Leylah Fernandez, Marie Bouzkova and Olga Danilovic also advanced to Round 2 on Tuesday.
Mertens avenged a US Open loss at Bucsa with a 7-6 (5 6-3 win after an hour and 42 minutes), advancing to face Tereza Valentova, an 18-year-old qualifier from the Czech Republic, who defeated another young talent, 20-year-old Alexandra Eala from the Philippines, 6-1 6-2 in 87 minutes.
Also safe in Round 2 is Canadian fourth seed Leylah Fernandez, who defeated American Hailey Baptiste 6-2 7-5, and will next face Hungarian qualifier Dalma Galfi, a 6-4 6-4 winner over another American, Alycia Parks.
Another Czech, Marie Bouzkova, got past Japan’s Ena Shibahara 6-1 6-1, with the No. 5 seed needing just 61 minutes to advance.
They played their first singles match since the 2014 US Open juniors, where Bouzkova also lost just two games to Shibahara in the first round on her way to the title.
Bouzkova next meets Viktorija Golubic, who fought past Bianca Andreescu 6-3 4-6 6-4 after 2 hours and 27 minutes.
The Suzhou WTA 125 champion from Switzerland extended her winning streak to six matches with her defeat of the 2019 US Open champion from Canada. She improved to 2-1 on aggregate against Andreescu, with all three meetings going to three sets.
Spain’s number 8 Jessica Bouzas Maneiro defeated American qualifier Katie Volynets 6-2 6-4 and will face Romania’s Jacqueline Cristian in round 2, who beat Italian qualifier Elisabetta Cocciarretto 6-2 7-6(4).
American Ann Li also advanced, with a 6-4 6-0 victory over French qualifier Varvara Gracheva, and will meet Rebecca Sramkova of Slovakia, who defeated qualifier Joanna Garland of Taipei 6-3 6-2.
Back in action on Day 3 include top seed Naomi Osaka of Japan and Britain’s Katie Boulter.
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