Here is an update on the early matches in Tokyo.
First of all, our title hopes took a big hit as Masha was upset by hometown favorite Kimiko Date-Krumm 5-7, 6-3, 3-6. I had a bad feeling about this match when the draw, but still this is a pretty disappointing performance from Masha.
She was really struggling with her serve throughout the match as evident by the twelve double faults she had. We had a glimmer of hope when Masha elevated her play to win the second set, but unfortunately her serving troubles resurfaced in the third set, which pretty much doomed her chances. I really don`t know what else is there to say other than this is very disappointing step backward to see Masha having a rare first round loss, which will be very costly to her in the ranking since she will be losing a lot of points from when she won the title last year.
We got much better news in the next match where Aggie defeated Olga Govortsova 6-2, 6-3. Good win for Aggie.
It`s nice to see her delivering a pretty good performance, which is a good start for her.
So that`s the story on the early matches in Tokyo. Right now the JJ-Alona is in progress with JJ leading 6-4, 3-1. Hopefully Alona can find a way to make the match more competitive. Following that match, Ana will take on Alisa Kleybanova. Hopefully Ana can redeem herself after her early exit in Seoul.
