Second seed Misaki Doi required just over an hour to defeat Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 6-4, in the first round of the Taiwan Open.
The world No.61 has made a poor start to the year after suffering a trio of first rounds defeats in Auckland, Herbert and Melbourne. The win over Pliskova is Doi’s first win on the tour since November.
During her opening match in Kaohsiung, Doi was able to take advantage of Pliskova’s tentative second service, winning 60% of points. The Japanese player was also consistent in the majority of her service games, winning 73% of her total service points. Doi dropped only six points on her first serve throughout the match.
This week Doi is bidding to win her second WTA title in Taiwan. The 24-year-old claimed her first title at the 2015 Luxembourg Open.
In other matches on the first day of the tournament, Poland’s Urszula Radwanska battled her way past world No.327 wildcard Ching-Wen Hsu, 6-4, 7-6(1). Radwanska was broken five times during her first round match compared to her opponents six. Despite the unexpected tough battle, the world No.113 won 55% of points in the match (78/143).
Radwanska is now on course for a second round meeting with top seed Venus Williams. Williams, the only top-60 player participating in the tournament, will play taiwan’s Lee Pei-chi in her opening match. The Pole has played Williams on three previous occasions. Her only win occurred in the first round of the 2013 French Open.
Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova endured a marathon opening match against Kristina Kucova. Sevastova, who returned to the sport last year after an 18-month retirement, recovered from a set down to win 4-6, 7-6(0), 7-6(3).
China’s Zhang Yuxuan was another player to endure a marathon first round match. The Chinese qualifier faced lucky loser Hiroko Kuwata of Japan. Yuxuan was a set and 4-2 down before fighting back to win 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-2.
Finally, Japan’s Miyu Kato won the battle of the qualifiers after defeating France’s Sherazad Reix 7-6(1), 6-3.
