Three Canadians saw action at the WTA 500 Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, and two advanced after Victoria Mboko got the better of Bianca Andreescu and Leylah Fernandez defeated Maria Sakkari.
[Bianca Andreescu] She has gone through so many of the same things I have this year. It can be a little difficult to bounce back and find your way after such a big result. Her being here helps me when I talk to her, and sometimes it helps me find a little peace of mind. Victoria Mboko
The 19-year-old Mboko won her first WTA title at her home Canadian Open in August, beating top seed Coco Gauff in the Last 16 before defeating former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka in the final.
However, after lifting the trophy in Montreal, she lost four consecutive first round matches in the following months, all against strong opposition, but she has stabilized her form and returned to winning ways, beating compatriot Andreescu 6–3 6–3 in 75 minutes to score her first tour win since her title run.
“Playing here reminded me a little bit of April,” Mboko said afterward, referring to the Billie Jean King Cup tie in April, when Canada played Japan and won two games. “I really had a great week and enjoyed playing on this field.
“When I walked outside again [today]I had the same feeling. It brought me some nostalgia and I felt very happy to be here. Playing on center court is always a lot of fun.”
A lingering wrist injury from Montreal slowed her down in the weeks that followed, and the tough draws didn’t help as she faced two-time Grand Slam champion Barbora Krejcikova and world No. 10 Ekaterina Alexandrova.
Bianca Andreescu lost to Victoria Mboko in straight sets and reached the quarter-finals of the doubles with her in Tokyo on Tuesday
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On Tuesday, Mboko raced to a 3-0 lead and never looked back. He claimed the first set in just 35 minutes and then broke early in the second to lead 3–2 before serving out the match.
She hit almost 70% of her first serves and won 77% of those points, maintaining control throughout the match.
Andreescu broke once in the first set, but then failed to build any resistance on the return, as Mboko kept the ball in the court both on serve and off the ground, finishing with more winners than unforced errors, 20 to 18, and outperforming Andreescu in both categories, while never trailing in the match.
Mboko, now 23rd in the world, said her breakthrough this year had been “crazy”.
“I can look back and at least feel good about what I was able to do,” the teen said. “I never thought I would be where I am today.
“It’s just a step further and higher, and hopefully next year I can build some kind of momentum and keep it very positive within myself.
“I always look on the bright side of things, and I think going into the game I just wanted to be really happy with the way I’m playing and stay true to how I was supposed to play. But it feels like a bit of a relief to get that out of the way and build momentum.”
Next Mboko will face Eva Lys, the German who defeated Britain’s Katie Boulter 6-2 6-1 in just over an hour in the first round on Monday.
Mboko has bragging rights against Lys from their only meeting, a 6-4 6-4 win at Roland Garros earlier this year.
A few hours after her singles victory, she was back on court, teaming up with her beaten opponent to advance to the doubles quarter-finals, after which she said she learned from Andreescu, who won the 2019 US Open but has struggled with injuries and form and is now ranked 172nd in the world.
“She’s been through so many of the same things I’ve been through this year,” Mboko said of Andreescu, whose three career titles all came in 2019. “It can be a bit difficult to come back and find your way after such a big result.
“Having her here helps me, sometimes when I talk to her it helps me find a little peace of mind,” she added.
Mboko is in the same quarter as another compatriot, Leylah Fernandez, and if the tennis gods align, they could meet in the quarter-finals.
Leylah Fernandez, who won the title in Osaka on Sunday, made a quick turnaround to pass qualifier Maria Sakkari at the WTA 500 in Tokyo on Monday
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Fernandez won the WTA 250 Japan Open title in Osaka on Sunday, playing five consecutive matches before making the quick turnaround to Tokyo, where she continued her winning ways, edging past Maria Sakkari 7-6(5) 6-4 on Monday.
Sakkari earned her spot in the main draw by beating Zeynep Sönmez and Suzan Lamens in the first and second qualifying rounds respectively, and it was a tricky opener as Fernandez fell behind 2–5, before playing four games in a row to force a tiebreak. She rallied from 0/4 down and won 7 of the next 8 points to take the opening set.
The Canadian No. 1 again trailed by a break in the second but eventually won, beating the Greek former world No. 3 after 2 hours.
“Every match against Maria will be tough,” Fernandez said after the match. “She fights so, so hard and she’s super aggressive. So I’m just happy that I was able to stay positive, at least for the most part, and of course the cheering from the crowd really helped me, so arigato to cheer me on.”
Fernandez’s performance on serve seemed solid, landing 66% of her leftie first serves, well above her season average, but she won only 59% of those points and was broken three times in the first set, and five times overall.
Fernandez’s biggest flaw in early game was her forehand, which contributed most to the 30 unforced errors she made in the first set, but it delivered in the biggest moments.
Facing the first of three set points in the opening set, Fernandez fended it off with a forehand winner to reach deuce, and after holding her own serve, she went back to the shot two games later, saving a break point with a clutch forehand down the line.
In the second set the forehand became a weapon instead of a defensive tactic. After a break at 4-3, Fernandez ripped off another winner to convert a break point and get himself back on serve.
She broke at love and then broke again in the final game, closing the match with a final forehand winner.
In the second round, Fernandez will face Elena Rybakina, the other title winner from last week at the WTA 500 Ningbo Open, and the No. 2 seed here in Tokyo.
The Canadian leads their head-to-head matchup 2-1, with all three matches having been played in the last two years, and Fernandez having won the last two, including a semi-final win in Washington, DC, on his way to the title in July.
At stake for Fernandez is a chance to extend her winning streak and maintain her lead over Rybakina, but that will be easier said than done as the Russian-born Kazakh finds herself in a must-win situation as she continues her late-season bid to earn a bid to the WTA Finals in Riyadh.
10th seed Sofia Kenin was an easy winner over local wildcard Moyuka Uchijima on Day 2 of the Toray Pan Pacific Open
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In other results on Day 2, Japan’s Sonobe Wakana defeated Czech Nikola Bartunkova 6-4 6-3 in a battle for teenage wildcards. He next meets American Sofia Kenin, who ousted Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima 6-1 6-3; while seventh seed Diana Shnaider of Russia was a 6-3 6-1 winner over Ukraine’s Dayana Yastermska; and Romania’s Jacqueline Cristian defeated Alina Charaeva, a qualifier from Russia, 6-2 6-3.
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