Taiwan’s Jimmy Wang made short work of his Japanese opponent to win his first-round match at the OEC Kaohsiung ATP Challenger in straight sets yesterday.
The No. 8 seed beat qualifier Toshihide Matsui 6-1, 6-4 in 1 hour, 13 minutes to set up a clash with another Japanese, Hiroki Moriya, who beat Taiwanese Davis Cup player Chen Ti 6-3, 6-3.
VETERAN
Photo: Huang Chih-yuan, Taipei Times
Wang dominated his contest against the 35-year-old, 458th-ranked Japanese veteran, holding his serve throughout and winning an impressive 92 percent of points on his first serve.
Another Taiwanese, Huang Lia-chi, was leading Na Jung-woon 6-0, 4-2 when his South Korean opponent retired. Top seed Lu Yen-hsun is due to face Huang today.
Meanwhile Yang Tsung-hua beat fellow Taiwanese wild-card Wang Chieh-fu 7-5, 6-4.
All the seeded players in action yesterday made it safely into round two.
SECOND SEED
Second seed Jack Sock of the US, the world No. 88, beat New Zealand No.1 and world No. 295, Jose Rubin Statham 6-4, 6-2.
No. 6 seed Matthew Ebden of Australia defeated another New Zealander, Michael Venus, while fourth seed Alejandro Gonzalez of Colombia downed South Korean qualifier Chung Hyeon 7-6 (7/4), 6-4.
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