Osaka, Ostapenko return with victories

Two of the sports newest and youngest Grand Slam champions, Naomi Osaka and Jelena Ostapenko, began their Asian swings in style on Wednesday with resounding victories.

Osaka, playing in her first match since hoisting the US Open trophy, smacked Dominika Cibulkova off the court in under an hour in Tokyo.

Playing before a sold-out crowd on centre court at her home tournament, Osaka, seeded No.3, won 6-2 6-1 to advance to the quarterfinals.

“I think my serve definitely worked well today. I think it got me out of trouble quite a lot, so I’m really happy with the progress,” said Osaka, who hit 10 aces among 25 winners while keeping her unforced errors to just nine.

“I think (winning) Indian Wells really prepared me for the US Open. In a way, I feel used to it. The scale of the US Open is way bigger, but I’m glad I’m playing Tokyo right after the US Open because this is where my mindset was anyway. It kept me from thinking too much about how I won the US Open.”

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Osaka will next face the winner of the second-round match between eighth seed Barbora Strycova and Estonia’s Anett Kontaveit.

Meanwhile, Ostapenko’s return to the Korea Open in Soeul, which she won last year, was a happy affair.

The Latvian, who like Osaka won her first Grand Slam title at age 20 when she triumphed at Roland Garros last year, brushed aside Lara Arruabarrena 6-3 6-3 in the first-round.

Tremendous from @jelenaostapenk8 !

She beats @laraarrua 6-3, 6-3 in #Seoul ! pic.twitter.com/YhKfzO1Vur

— WTA (@WTA) September 19, 2018

She finished the match with 32 winners to the Spaniard’s three, delighting fans with the aggressive style that proved so popular in Seoul last year.

“Today was a good match for me, especially for the first round because first rounds are always tough,” Ostapenko said.

“I was really happy that so many people came. Especially here in Korea, I have great memories from last year – the fans support me a lot so I felt really good out there today.”

Ostapenko, ranked 10th and the top seed in Seoul, next plays Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova for a place in the quarterfinals.