MASON, OH, USA - Even though the top two attractions at the Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open had Monday off, there was some scintillating tennis, as Akiko Morigami battled for nearly three hours to win her opener against Camille Pin. Sania Mirza and Lilia Osterloh moved on in straight sets during the night session.
Morigami, the No.7 seed at the $175,000, Tier III Sony Ericsson WTA Tour tournament, was nearly bundled out of the tournament in her first match of the week, eventually winning with a two-hour, 48-minute win over feisty Frenchwoman Pin, 46 76(6) 76(2).
The match was a see-saw battle right from the start, as Pin rallied from a 3-1 hole early on to claim the first set, 6-4. She was just a game away from winning, at 5-3 in the second set, but this time it was Morigami who fought back, even overcoming a seemingly insurmountable 5-1 tie-break deficit, and facing one match point down 6-5 there, to push the already-marathon match to a deciding third set.
"I started playing more aggressively and coming to the net more," Morigami said. "I didn't execute my game plan as well as I wanted, but once I started coming to the net, even when I wasn't winning all of my points, it sent a message to her she had to come up with the pass."
That third set was another dramatic affair, with Pin coming back from 4-2 down, and the two eventually getting back on serve. Morigami let go of four match points when serving for the match at 6-5, but would fittingly close it out in a tie-break.
"I think I was lucky to win, because she had me for sure," a relieved Morigami said to the press afterwards. "I'm just glad I got through."
Morigami has had an encouraging string of results the last few months, most notably winning her career-first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title on the clay courts of Prague and pushing eventual champion Venus Williams to the limit in the third round of Wimbledon. There, she had a 5-3 third set lead on the American megastar.
"The match against Venus gave me confidence, and made me believe I can play at that high level," the 27-year-old Japanese continued. "I'm also really happy to have won my first title, because I've waited almost 10 years for that. But, my ranking is in the 60s right now, and I was in the 40s before, so I'm trying to keep this up."
The highest seed in action, No.3 seed Mirza, also had a tight contest but prevailed in straight sets, beating Abigail Spears, 64 63. The Indian superstar had to battle back from 3-0 down in the first set and a break down in the second to advance."She started off very well and rarely missed anything, and I just found it a little hard to focus, maybe because it was my first match of the tournament," Mirza stated. "But at the end when I really needed it, I pulled it off. I made the balls I needed and the winners I needed. I'm just taking it match by match."
Mirza injured her knee earlier in the year and missed two and a half months of play on the Tour, but has been working her way back into shape since returning in May.
"I feel fit now - I feel fitter than when I stopped. My knee is probably around 90% right now, but that last 10% is the hardest part to get. I still struggle with some movements, but it doesn't hamper me when I play. That's just how it is."
The only other singles main draw match played Monday was Ohio native Lilia Osterloh against Ukrainian Viktoriya Kutuzova, which Osterloh won handily, 62 63.
Akgul Amanmuradova, Anda Perianu, Anna Tatishvili and Brenda Schultz-McCarthy moved into the main draw with final round of qualifying victories. Schultz-McCarthy won a nail-biter against Australia's Monique Adamczak; the Dutchwoman battled back from a 5-2 third set deficit to prevail, 67(5) 60 76(5), in two hours, four minutes.
The tournament suffered two injury withdrawals, from Meilen Tu and Severine Brémond. Tu was suffering from a left wrist injury while Bremond pulled out due to illness.
"I am naturally disappointed that I injured my wrist while playing for the American team at Fed Cup this past weekend," Tu said. "It is with deep regret that I'll have to miss this year's Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open as it's a great tournament on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. I was there two years ago, and enjoyed my time. I hope to be back again next year."
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