 Photographer: Hiromasa Mano
Date: 20 Oct 2009 |  Photographer: Hiromasa Mano
Date: 20 Oct 2009 |  Photographer: Hiromasa Mano
Date: 20 Oct 2009 |  Photographer: Hiromasa Mano
Date: 20 Oct 2009 |  Photographer: Hiromasa Mano
Date: 20 Oct 2009 |  Photographer: Hiromasa Mano
Date: 20 Oct 2009 |
|
| 20 Oct 2009 - Marco Massetani | |
| Berta and Babos advance easily into second round |
Day 2 at the Osaka Major’s Cup saw the completion of round one in both draws. Asia’s Grade A tournament - the penultimate Grade A of the 2009 Circuit - continued to be dominated by the seeds, a clear indication of the presence of world’s best players in Japan.
In girls’ competition second seed Timea Babos of Hungary began her title campaign with an easy 63 62 win over home-player Shoko Yamamoto. 16-year-old Babos, World number 4 in the current ITF Junior rankings, is trained by father Csaba and has claimed three titles this year; The Copa Gatorade in Venezuela, The Sarawak Chief Minister’s Cup in Malaysia & The Japan Open played in Nagoya. She also reached the semifinals at The European Junior Championship in Villach, Austria last July and can boast success at $10.000 in Edinburgh, confirmation she is developing a mature and powerful brand of tennis. Babos will face Hua-Chen Lee from Chinese Taipei in the second round after Lee enjoyed a straight set victory, over Britain’s Laura Deigman, 62 62.
Japanese Hikari Yamamoto fought hard against third seed Silvia Njiric of Croatia, winning the first set 76(5). This only served to provoke The Copa Gerdau Champion, as the Japanese then suffered at the hands of Njiric, losing the remaining sets 61 64. Njiric is focused on claiming her second Grade A title of the year, after her exploit in Brazil. In the bottom half of the draw, Akiko Omae of Japan dropped just three games in her 62 61 victory over qualifier Luksika Kumkhum from Thailand. Another home player, wild card Ayaka Okuno went trough to the second round overcoming her fellow-countrywoman qualifier Ai Usami 62 63. In the top half of the draw eleventh seed Fatma Al Nabhani from Oman scored a 63 62 win over Japanese qualifier Mako Irie.
In the boys’ event, the top seeded Swede Daniel Berta started with an eloquent 62 61 victory over Japanese Motoaki Kita, and remains the most likely pretender to the boys’ crown. French Open Champion 17-year-old Berta demonstrated why hard is his preferred court surface, playing stylishly, with an excellent backhand and a solid forehand, nevertheless the world number 2 doesn’t look like a typical Nordic player. This year Berta won The Mitsubishi Lancer Championship in Philippines but then struggled in The US Open last September, and will look to improve the consistency in his game.
In the top half of the draw, thirteenth seed Barrett Franks from New Zealand beat Japanese qualifier Yohei Ono 61 61, whilst the fifth seed Cheng-Peng Hsieh from Chinese Taipei advanced into the second round after a blinding win 64 16 75 over wild card Ryuji Hirooka from Japan. In the bottom half of the draw, fourteenth seed Japanese Taro Daniel had an intense battle against Tim Nekic of Germany, winning 57 63 62.
Related Articles
> Seeds start with wins in Osaka
^ Back to Top
|
