Tokyo, Oct 26 (IANS) No. 8 seed Alexandra Eala eased past 17-year-old wild card Mika Stojsavljevic 6-1, 6-2 in just 75 minutes in the opening round of the Toray Pan Pacific Open Tennis on Monday.
Stojsavljevic used her easy power off the ground to rack up 24 winners in total, compared to Eala’s eight, but she was unable to find any consistency with her big hitting, tallying 41 unforced errors as well.
Meanwhile, Ella landed 68 per cent of her first deliveries and won 72 per cent of those points; she faced break points in only one game, the second of the second set, but swiftly got out of that 0-40 hole with two service winners and a one-two punch, WTA reports.
Eala will next face Singapore finalist Talia Gibson, who came through an all-Australian derby over qualifier Daria Kasatkina 6-0, 7-5.
The tournament, however, saw two withdrawals, as No. 2 seed Maja Chwalinska and No. 4 seed Belinda Bencic were both forced to withdraw from the tournament due to injury.
Chwalinska, who captured her first career WTA title in Wuhan two weeks ago, pulled out due to a left thigh injury.
Australia’s Kimberly Birrell, who won her maiden title in Seoul last month, replaced her in the main draw as a lucky loser with a first-round bye. Birrell will face qualifier Alycia Parks in the second round; the American saved three set points in the second set to defeat Wang Xinyu 6-1, 7-6(7).
Defending champion Bencic cited a right ankle injury for her withdrawal. She will be replaced in the draw by the highest-ranked lucky loser who signed in on Tuesday.
Elsewhere, No. 5 seed Elise Mertens improved to 3-0 against Japanese wild card Moyuka Uchijima with a 6-4, 6-2 victory.
Qualifier Alycia Parks saved three set points in the second set — one trailing 5-4 and two in the tiebreak — to defeat Wang Xinyu 6-1, 7-6(7) in the first round.
In an all-Australian first-round derby, Talia Gibson won the first eight games against qualifier Daria Kasatkina — but had to fight hard in the second set to close out a 6-0, 7-5 victory.
–IANS
bc/hs