Japanese wild card entrant Ayumi Morita repeated her Olympic performance to beat Marina Erakovic of New Zealand in the first round of the Japan Open on Monday. The 18-year-old Morita, who eliminated Erakovic in the first round in Beijing in August, needed just 69 minutes to score a 6-1, 6-4 victory.
"This is the fourth time I played her and I know how she plays. Because I won all the matches, I had expected her to play a different game, so I tried to be aggressive to take the initiative before she attacked," Morita said.
"I took the first three games in a row, taking chances on her mistakes, and I was able to concentrate very well." Morita, who reached the round of 16 as a qualifier in Seoul last week, attributed her recent successes to her "stronger mentality" to adjust herself quickly to different conditions, including court surfaces.
She also said the appearance of new teenage sensation Kei Nishikori, only the second Japanese man to win an ATP title in February, inspired her. "He is my age. That's what I feel the happiest about ... because all the female players are older than me. He has inspired me a lot," said Morita. "Hopefully, we both can move up to become one of the top players in the near future."
In the second round, Morita will play either top seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark or Gisela Dulko of Argentina. While officials postponed matches on outside courts due to steady rain, those on the Ariake Coliseum centre court continued with the roof closed.
Marta Domachowska of Poland defeated another Japanese wild card, Aiko Nakamura, 6-4, 7-5, while Kaia Kanepi of Estonia, a quarter-finalist at the French Open, outclassed Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-3.
In the men's action, American Amer Delic eliminated Japan's Go Soeda 6-4, 6-2, while Takao Suzuki downed fellow Japanese Yuichi Sugita 6-3, 7-6 (8/6). Lee Hyung-Taik of South Korea breezed past Japan's Satoshi Iwabuchi 6-1, 6-4, and Ivo Minar of the Czech Republic defeated Mischa Zverev of Germany 7-6 (11/9), 2-6, 6-2. The men's 16 seeded players, led by defending champion David Ferrer of Spain and Andy Roddick of the United States, received first-round byes.