Top-seeded Iga Swiatek of Poland held off Japanese qualifier Mai Hontama 6-4, 7-5 on Wednesday and advanced to the quarterfinals at the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.
Swiatek rallied from 4-1 down in the first set and squandered a 5-1 lead in the second set before prevailing in just over two hours. Up next is No. 8 seed Veronika Kudermetova of Russia, who defeated Kayla Day 6-3, 6-3 in second-round action at the WTA 500 event.
No. 2 seed Jessica Pegula saved both break points and won 86 percent of the points on her first serve (18 of 21) in an efficient 6-1, 6-2 win over Spain’s Cristina Bucsa. Defending champion and No. 7 seed Liudmila Samsonova fell in straight sets to fellow Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova, 6-4, 6-2.
Ningbo Open
No. 1 seed Ons Jabeur of Tunisia eased into the quarterfinals in Ningbo, China, with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch.
Jabeur never lost her serve in the 84-minute match and advanced to face Russia’s Vera Zvonareva, who was leading Clara Tauson 6-4, 1-0 when the Dane was forced to retire.
Two Czech players pulled off second-round upsets. Katerina Siniakova knocked out No. 3 seed Sorana Cirstea of Romania 6-3, 7-5, and Linda Fruhvirtova outlasted No. 4 Anna Blinkova of Russia 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. Other winners were No. 8 Lucia Bronzetti of Italy and Nadia Podoroska of Argentina.
–Field Level Media