TNT Sports
Iga Swiatek battles to beat Mai Hontama on return at Pan Pacific Open, Jessica Pegula also advances in Tokyo
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Published 27/09/2023 at 13:07 GMT+1
World No. 2 Iga Swiatek beat world No. 127 Mai Hontama on her return to action at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. It wasn't the cleanest display from Swiatek, who was broken five times and came from 4-1 down in the first set, but she was a comfortable winner in the end. Second seed Jessica Pegula also won her first match since the US Open, beating Cristina Bucsa in straight sets.
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Video credit: TNT Sports
Iga Swiatek returned to the WTA Tour with a battling victory over world No. 127 Mai Hontama at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.
Playing for the first time since losing her No. 1 ranking at the US Open, Swiatek trailed by a double break in the first set and led a 5-1 lead slip in the second set before winning 6-4 7-5.
The world No. 2 will next face eighth seed Veronika Kudermetova.
Swiatek was beaten by Jelena Ostapenko in her previous match in the last 16 of the US Open and saw Aryna Sabalenka end her 75-week run as world No. 1 after the tournament.
The Polish star didn’t get off to the best start against Hontama, losing serve twice to fall 4-1 behind.
But the top seed turned things around with a five-game run that saw her clinch the set.
Hontama broke to start the second set but again couldn't hold the advantage as Swiatek responded by taking the next five games in a row.
Swiatek was twice broken when trying to serve out the win as Hontama fought back to 5-4.
Hontama then levelled the set at 5-5 after saving two match points.
But Swiatek took the next game to move back in front and then sealed victory on her fourth match point.
Second seed Jessica Pegula opened with a 6-1 6-2 victory over Cristina Bucsa.
Playing for the first time since losing in the fourth round of the US Open, Pegula needed just 62 minutes to wrap up the win.
“I thought I played very well," said Pegula.
"The courts play pretty fast here, so I was just trying to focus on my serve and my return, and I thought I did that really well, and was able to play a very clean match today."
Pegula now has 45 wins for the season, behind only Swiatek (57) and Sabalenka (50) on the WTA Tour.
She next faces sixth seed Daria Kasatkina or qualifier Despina Papamichail.
The ATP 500 China Open starts this week in Beijing with world No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz leading the field as he plays for the first time since the US Open.
At the Ningbo Open, top seed Ons Jabeur progressed to the quarter-finals with a 6-3 6-2 win over Tamara Korpatsch.
The Wimbledon runner-up will face veteran Vera Zvonareva next, whose run continued after Clara Tauson retired while trailing 4-6 0-1 against the 39-year-old Russian.
Third seed Sorana Cirstea crashed out in a 6-3 7-5 defeat to Katerina Siniakova, who will face Nadia Podoroska next following the Argentine’s 4-6 6-0 6-2 win over Valeria Savinykh.
Another shock came as fourth seed Anna Blinkova lost 3-6 6-3 1-6 against Linda Fruhvirtova.
The Czech will face No. 8 seed Lucia Bronzetti in the quarter-finals, who defeated Kateryna Baindl 6-3 6-3.
Second seed Petra Kvitova will meet Diana Shnaider in the final last-eight clash after their respective wins over Yulia Putintseva (walkover) and Kamilla Rakhimova (6-3 6-2).
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