Madison Keys advanced to the second round in Osaka after defeating Kasatkina 6-3, 6-4. Hsieh turned a match against Garbine Muguruza.
Keys was losing 2-3 in the first set, but then won 4 games in a row to win the first set 6-3. In the second set, Keys was losing 1-3 again and was able to turn the set again when she won 6-4. After the match she said:
"I feel good, I’m always a little bit nervous ahead of my first matches," Keys said, after the match. "It’s always hard to get out there and get all the nerves out, I started a little slow but I was really happy to get the win."
"For me, the key was at the end of the first set and more in second set, when my serve was getting better," Keys concluded. "That was a big part of today’s win."
The biggest surprise of the first day was the turn of the match by Su-Wei Hsieh, who managed to beat
Garbine Muguruza. Muguruza was winning already 6-3 and 4-2, but Hsieh won the tie-break of the second set. In the third set she already dominated and won it 6-1. After the match she commented:
"I know that anything can happen because this is almost the end of the year," Hsieh said. "I just want to be more relaxed, going more to my game. Sometimes I lose a little bit of rhythm at the beginning, so I just need to play more games to get the rhythm."
"First set, [Muguruza] was hitting the ball very hard, and I was not expecting a game like this," Hsieh admitted. "I was still trying to find a way to get into the match."
"In the second set, I felt a little bit more rhythm, and more stable myself, my personal style," the winner continued. "It helped me a lot to get into the match and to get more game."
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