Japan’s Mai Hontama upset fifth-seeded Nadia Podoroska of Argentina 6-3, 6-3 in the Round of 16 on Wednesday at the Japan Open in Osaka.
Hontama won 80 percent (24 of 30) of her first-serve points, compared to 68 percent (24 of 42) for Podoroska in the match lasting 1 hour, 27 minutes.
Third-seeded Xinyu Wang of China converted four of eight break points in defeating Jil Teichmann of Switzerland 7-6 (3), 6-3 in 2 hours in the Round of 32.
Other winners in the Round of 16, all in straight sets, were American Ashlyn Krueger, Russian Anna Kalinskaya and sixth seed Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan.
San Diego Open
Russia’s Anastasia Potapova survived a return-dominated match to upset top-seeded Ons Jabeur of Tunisia 6-4, 7-6 (4) in the second round at San Diego.
Potapova won just 51 percent of her service points, while Jabeur won only 46 percent. Each player had significantly more double faults than aces: 7-1 for Potapova, 9-2 for Jabeur.
Up next for Potapova is a quarterfinal meeting with former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, who won an all-U.S. matchup vs. Katie Volynets, 1-6, 6-4, 6-2. Second-seeded Caroline Garcia of France ousted the United States’ Sloane Stephens 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.
Also advancing to the quarterfinals were third-seeded Maria Sakkari of Greece, fourth-seeded Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic, and U.S. players Emma Navarro and Danielle Collins.
In the last match of the night, seventh-seeded Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil defeated Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk 7-5, 6-7 (3), 6-2.
–Field Level Media