Tokyo: Heather Watson became the first Briton to win a WTA singles title in 24 years after she saved match points to beat Taiwan's Chang Kai-chen 7-5 5-7 7-6 in the final of the Japan Open in Osaka on Sunday.
The British number two succeeded where Laura Robson had failed in Guangzhou last month to become the country's first winner on the women's tour since Sara Gomer in 1988. The Bollettieri-trained Watson did it the hard way, saving four match points at 5-4 down in the third set.
Watson, ranked 71 in the world, came through a nervy tiebreak 7-4 to finally see off her 134th-ranked opponent in a tense end to the final of the $220,000 hardcourt event.
Before Robson and Watson the last Briton to reach a WTA final was Jo Durie at Newport in 1990 - before either player was born. Watson had demonstrated her potential by pushing French Open champion Maria Sharapova to three sets in Tokyo last month, the Russian tipping her to be a future winner....
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03:20 PM, Oct 14, 2012
Osaka: Chang Kai-chen of Taiwan beat top-seeded Sam Stosur of Australia 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (3) on Saturday to advance to the final of the Japan Open. The 134th-ranked Chang broke Stosur twice in the opening set. She eliminated three seeded players on the way to her first career WTA Tour final. The 21-year-old Chang will face Britain's Heather Watson on Sunday after she defeated local favorite Misaki Doi of Japan...
06:53 PM, Oct 13, 2012
Osaka: Top-seeded Sam Stosur of Australia moved into the Japan Open semi-finals with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Jamie Hampton of the United States on Friday. Stosur, the 2011 U.S. Open champion, broke her unseeded opponent's serve seven times in the quarterfinal while never facing a break point herself. Stosur, ranked ninth in the world, will meet Kai-chen Chang of Taiwan on Saturday, after the unseeded Chang ousted eighth-seeded Laura...
05:56 PM, Oct 12, 2012
Tokyo: Kei Nishikori stunned big-serving Milos Raonic 7-6, 3-6, 6-0 with an electrifying display of attacking tennis to become the host country's first Japan Open champion on Sunday. It was the eighth seed's second career title after winning in Delray Beach in 2008 and will elevate the 22-year-old from 17th to 15th in the world rankings. "I'm partying tonight," Nishikori said in a courtside interview as a sellout Tokyo crowd...
03:04 PM, Oct 07, 2012
Tokyo: Leander Paes and his Czech partner Radek Stepanek faltered at the final hurdle as they suffered an upset straight-set defeat at the hands of Alexander Peya of Austria and Brazil's Bruno Soares to finish runners-up at the ATP Japan Open here on Sunday. The fourth seeded Austrian-Brazilian pair defeated top seeds Paes and Stepanek 6-3 7-6 (5) in an hour and 46 minutes in the USD 1,280,565 hard court...
12:37 PM, Oct 07, 2012
Tokyo: Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek outplayed Daniele Bracciali and Frantisek Cermak in straight sets to storm into final of the ATP Japan Open on Saturday. The top seeded Indo-Czech pair defeated the Italian-Czech combination scored a comfortable 6-3 6-1 in one hour and three minutes in the semi-finals of the USD 1,280,565 hard court event. Paes has won three titles this season out of which two (Australian Open and...
03:33 PM, Oct 06, 2012
Tokyo: Milos Raonic of Canada ousted top-seeded Andy Murray to move into the final of the Japan Open, edging the defending champion 6-3, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (4) on Saturday. Raonic, seeded 6th and ranked 15th, will meet the winner of the second semi-final later on Saturday between local hope Kei Nishikori and unseeded Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus. Playing under a blazing sun at Ariake Colosseum, the big-hitting Raonic broke Murray...
12:30 PM, Oct 06, 2012
Tokyo:Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek overcame a second-set lapse to defeat Andy and Jamie Murray and enter the semifinals of the ATP Japan Open, here on Friday. The top seeded Indo-Czech pair defeated the British brothers pair 6-4 3-6 10-2 in one hour and 17 minutes in the quarterfinals of the USD 1,280,565 hard court event. Paes and Stepanek saved a break chance in the opening set and converted one...
07:31 PM, Oct 05, 2012
Tokyo: Defending champion and top-seeded Andy Murray moved into the semi-finals of the Japan Open with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 win over seventh-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland on Friday. The US Open champion and Olympic gold medallist will play sixth-seeded Milos Raonic of Canada in the semi-finals on Saturday. Raonic outlasted third-seeded Janko Tipsarevic 6-7 (5), 6-2, 7-6 (7) in a match that took nearly 2 hours and 45 minutes....
01:49 PM, Oct 05, 2012
Tokyo: Top seeded pair of Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek had to work hard to down unseeded rivals in Filip Polasek and Julian Knowle in the opening round of the ATP Japan Open on Thursday. The Indo-Czech pair defeated the Slovakian-Austrian pair 6-4 6-4 in one hour and 17 minutes in the USD 1,280,565 hard court event. The two sides fought tooth and nail, producing a thrilling game of tennis....
05:28 PM, Oct 04, 2012
Tokyo: Former champion Tomas Berdych comfortably beat Colombia's Alejandro Falla 6-3 7-5 to reach the quarter-finals of the Japan Open on Thursday. Czech Berdych, who won the Japan Open in 2008, played well within himself, blasting nine aces as he rolled through in one hour, 18 minutes to notch his 50th win of the year. "I served well and took my chances," the second seed told reporters after moving another...
01:39 PM, Oct 04, 2012
Tokyo: Defending champion Andy Murray advanced to the quarter-finals of the Japan Open by beating Lukas Lacko of Slovakia 6-1, 6-2 on Wednesday. The third-ranked Murray lost only two points in the first five games and even threw in a few drop shots in a match that was completed with the roof Ariake Colosseum closed because of rain. The US Open champion and Olympic gold medalist broke Lacko in the...
07:25 PM, Oct 03, 2012
Tokyo: Defending champion Andy Murray blew out the cobwebs with a 7-6 6-4 win over towering Croat Ivo Karlovic on Tuesday in his first match since winning last month's US Open. The Olympic gold medallist had been scheduled to face Gael Monfils in the first round of the $1.28 million hardcourt event but the Frenchman pulled out with a knee injury. Japan's Kei Nishikori survived a fright against countryman Go...
03:48 PM, Oct 02, 2012
Tokyo: Former champion Tomas Berdych eased his way into the second round of the Japan Open with a 6-1 7-6 victory over France's Benoit Paire on Monday. US Open champion Andy Murray opens the defence of his Tokyo title against Frenchman Gael Monfils on Tuesday. Second seed Berdych almost inflicted the dreaded 'bagel' on Paire in the first set until the Frenchman finally held serve in the sixth game but...
10:14 PM, Oct 01, 2012
Tokyo: Andy Murray has promised to end the year on a high after a career-best season in which he captured Olympic gold and ended Britain's 76-year wait for a men's grand slam champion. The 25-year-old begins his defence of the Japan Open title this week in Tokyo, where he faces Frenchman Gael Monfils in his first match since his New York triumph earlier this month. "It will be a tough...
07:18 PM, Sep 30, 2012
Tokyo: Former World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki was pushed hard by Serbian qualifier Bojana Jovanovski in the first round of the Japan Open Monday, winning the match in a tense decider. Wozniacki wrapped up the rain-interrupted match 6-0, 3-6, 6-4 and will now play either Russia's Ekaterina Makarova or Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova, who are both unseeded. Wozniacki was playing the day after winning the Korea Open in Seoul, where she beat...
06:21 PM, Sep 24, 2012
Tokyo: Maria Sharapova will face Heather Watson in the second round of the Japan Open tennis event after the British qualifier ousted Germany's Sabine Lisicki on Monday. World No.78 Watson made up 48 ranking places to upset Lisicki 6-4, 7-6(3) on the hard court in Tokyo and set up a meeting with Sharapova, whose status as second seed meant she received a first-round bye. Watson's win prevents a rematch between...
04:06 PM, Sep 24, 2012
New Delhi: Indian challenge ended at the Japan Super Series following the defeats of shuttlers PV Sindhu and Ajay Jayaram in the women's and men's singles pre-quarterfinals, respectively in Tokyo on Thursday. Sindhu, who broke into the top 20 ranking on Thursday, fought for 52 minutes before suffering a 21-10 12-21 18-21 loss to fourth seed Yeon Ju Bae at the Tokyo Yoyogi Gymnasium. In men's singles, Jayaram also failed...
08:02 PM, Sep 20, 2012
Tokyo: India's B Sai Praneeth qualified for the main draw of the men's singles at the Japan Open Super Series here on Tuesday. The 20-year-old won both his qualification rounds to enter the first round of the main draw where he will be facing Malaysia's Daren Liew on Wednesday. He beat Andrew Smith of England 21-15, 18-21, 21-19 in 45 minutes in the first round and Japanese Riichi Takeshita 21-14,...
05:18 PM, Sep 18, 2012
Osaka: Second-seeded Marion Bartoli of France cruised to a straight-sets victory over top-seeded Samantha Stosur of Australia to win the Japan Open on Sunday. Bartoli defeated the US Open champion 6-3, 6-1 in 1 hour, 14 minutes on the hard court at the Utsubo Tennis Center. The Frenchwoman broke Stosur twice in the opening set and held serve throughout the match on the way to her second WTA Tour victory...
06:43 PM, Oct 16, 2011
