New world No. 1 Garbine Muguruza yesterday overwhelmed Olympic champion Monica Puig in straight sets to ease into the quarter-finals of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.
Playing her first match since taking over the top ranking, the Wimbledon champion broke her Puerto Rican opponent twice in the first set and was even more dominant in the second as she romped to a 6-4, 6-0 triumph.
Puig dropped her serve in the first game of the match, but used her impressive court coverage to restore parity in the fourth game, before Muguruza seized control of the contest when she broke her opponent again in the next game.
Photo: AFP
Once she had established a one-set lead, Muguruza sealed the win with her third ace after 75 minutes.
Earlier, Karolina Pliskova appeared to suffer no ill-effects of playing without a coach as she swept aside Magda Linette 6-2, 6-1 to also advance to the last eight.
In the first round of the doubles, Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan fell to a 7-6 (10-8), 1-6, 13-11 defeat to Japan’s Kurumi Nara and Risa Ozaki.
KOREA OPEN
AFP, SEOUL
Richel Hogenkamp yesterday beat big-hitting Czech Denisa Allertova 6-4, 6-4 to reach the Korea Open quarter-finals, as she fights to return to the top 100.
It is the first time the Dutch 25-year-old has reached a quarter-final on hard courts and afterward said she had been focused on keeping her opponent guessing.
She will now face either Arantxa Rus or Priscilla Hon for a spot in the final four.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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