Kinoshita Group Japan Open (WTA 250) saw its 1st round action in both singles and doubles at ITC Utsubo Tennis Center on the 12th. The first round singles match between Mai Hontama (Japan) and Su Jeong Jang (Korea) that was suspended reconvened with Hontama leading 7-5,0-6,5-1. Hontama kept her serve in the second game of the day and won the set 6-2, winning a very long match. “Even though I was leading 5-1, it almost felt like a ‘reset’ button was pushed. Knowing that I only needed one more game made me feel strangely tense so it was difficult,” Hontama said after the match. She added to explain how she “tried to go all out from the beginning.” After the match reconvened, the opponent held her serve but in the following game, Hontama’s serves nicked the corners of the service lines to let her keep her serve with ease.

On the day before in the 1st set, she was able to execute points she aspires to play by moving her opponent in rallies, getting to the net and putting away volleys. She lost the second set 0-6, totally one-sided, yet she says she had been able to analyze what she had been doing wrong and make adjustments in the final set. “I tried to hold my racquet firmly, be ready to get to the net and to continue to score points,” she recounted about a match that needed 2 hours and 19 minutes over two days.

© JTA PR Division