Kerber exorcises New York demons in Tokyo

TOKYO: Former world number one Angelique Kerber thrashed Japan’s Naomi Osaka 6-3, 6-4 at the Pan Pacific Open women’s tennis tournament on Monday to avenge a humiliating loss at the US Open.

Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic suffered an epic Tokyo meltdown, meanwhile, as she was pulverised by China’s Wang Qiang, who inflicted the dreaded “double bagel” on the eighth seed to win 6-0, 6-0 and reach the second round.

Kerber, seeded seventh, crashed to a shock 6-3, 6-1 first-round defeat by Osaka in New York last month as defending champion.Kerber, who has slipped back to 14th in the world since winning last year’s Australian and US Open titles, ripped forehands past her teenage opponent seemingly at will in the first set.

Osaka’s game unravelled completely in the second, giving Kerber a welcome opportunity to work her way back to form after a poor run of results and to seal victory in an hour and 23 minutes.

Elsewhere, Japanese wildcard Kurumi Nara beat Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.Two-time champion Agnieszka Radwanska, seeded sixth, pulled out of the tournament with a virus, according to organisers.

Wimbledon champion and new women’s world number one Garbine Muguruza heads a strong field in Tokyo featuring several top 10 players including Karolina Pliskova, Caroline Wozniacki and Johanna Konta. —