There will be no seeded players in the Tokyo International final as Yanina Wickmayer ousted 7th seed Ajla Tomljanovic and Magda Linette bested 6th seed Christina McHale. There are no WTA titles so far this year for any of these players. The winner on Sunday will be fourth on the list of the lowest ranked players to win a WTA crown in 2015. Five of the eight seeded players were knocked out in the first two rounds.
Wickmayer of Belgium, currently ranked 86, beat the soon to be Australian Tomljanovic (ranked 61) in straight sets: 7-5, 6-2. This was their first meeting. The Belgian dictated play and kept pressure on Tomljanovic through most of the encounter and was the more consistent player. Wickmayer held her serve easily: she faced only two break points and won 67% of her second serves, compared to Tomljanovic, who only won 35% of her second service points. Tomljanovic saved six break points during the first set but Wickmayer was able to convert on the seventh chance to take the first set.
Each player faced three break points in the second set. Wickmayer was able to convert on two opportunities but Tomljanovic failed to take advantage of her chances. The future Australian won only half of her first serves and 33% of her second service points. She gifted Wickmayer two breaks of serve with untimely unforced errors in the fourth and eighth games. Tomljanovic fought to stay in points, but could not match the power and experience of the Belgian.
To get to the semifinals, Wickmayer beat Katerina Siniakova, 5th seed Johanna Larsson and Kateryna Bondarenko. The Belgian, who has been ranked as high as 12 in 2010, has not won a WTA title since that year. This year, her best previous results have been the semifinals at Prague, quarterfinals at Nottingham and the fourth round at the Australian Open.
After the match, Wickmayer said that she was happy with her game and glad to have won a tough match under difficult conditions (hot and humid). A semifinal appearance is a good start for Tomljanovic’s Asian swing.
Tomljanovic got past Timea Babos, Kimiko Date-Krumm and Madison Brengle to reach the semifinals before she succumbed to Wickmayer. In 2015, she reached her first WTA final in Pattaya City and made it to the quarterfinals in Stanford and Strasbourg. Tomljanovic reached her highest ranking of 48 in October 2014.
The second semifinal match featured 6th seed Christina McHale from the U.S. and Magda Linette from Poland (ranked 84). In their only meeting in Rome in 2011, McHale won in straight sets. Although both players are 23 years old, McHale is much more experienced at the WTA tour level. McHale has 34 WTA main draw appearances this year (16 wins, 18 losses) compared to 15 for Linette (7 wins, 8 losses). However, Linette outlasted McHale in this match: 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.
At the beginning of the contest, Linette seemed nervous and tight, but gained confidence and composure as the match progressed. After McHale held in the first game, Linette doubled faulted her first two service points and was broken at love. After a hold in the fourth game, Linette started hitting better and unforced errors began to creep into McHale’s game. McHale needed only the one break to win the first set in just over 30 minutes. She was solid on her serve, facing no break points.
The second set started in a similar fashion as the first with Linette losing her first service game. However, the Pole was able to break right back keeping herself in the points with good defense. She continued on to win the next three games holding serve comfortably and helped in part by McHale’s unforced errors. Linette tightened up as she served for the set at 3-5 and gave back the break at love, including two faults. McHale also seemed tight on her service game and traded back the break to give the set to Linette.
A confident Linette played more aggressively in the third set putting pressure on McHale. A sloppy fifth game by Linette gave McHale a break of serve, but Linette broke right back taking advantage of second serve opportunities. Linette went on to win the next three games, listening to her coach’s advice: keep attacking and coming to net.
On her road to the semifinals, Linette beat Lauren Davis, Zarina Diyas (the 2nd seed and last year’s finalist), and Su-Wei Hsieh. This is Linette’s first WTA final. Until this tournament, Linette had not made it past the second round in a WTA event.
McHale, currently ranked 60, bested Yulia Putintseva, Risa Ozaki and Saisai Zheng. Earlier in the year, McHale reached the quarterfinals in Washington D.C. and Rome. McHale’s highest ranking was 24 in October 2012.
