■The first match was an easy win with the score of 6-3, 6-2, but the second round was a close one. In the first set, she was behind 3-5, and in the next service game, her opponent had a set point. In the second set, at 2-1, she had two double faults in her service game and conceded a break. However, Sara Saito made use of her aggressive strokes and improved serves to survive difficult situations. Despite the difference in rankings, Saito pushed aside a top 50 player.

■Why is it that an 18-year-old who is competing in a WTA tour main event for the first time is able to prevail in a closely contested match? I asked directly. “When competing, when you have a strong desire to win, in the past I have often been passive and tried to get my opponents to make mistakes, but you should be aggressive and do what you are good at when the match is close, and as a result, you can win points. I thought it would be nice if I could do it. I think it's more about focusing on my own game than scoring points."

■Last year, Saito might have chosen to “make her opponent make errors'' in a competition with the 48th-ranked player in the world. The reason she was able to “be strong when competing'' was because of the experience she has accumulated as an 18-year-old. She entered the 2023 Australian Open Juniors as the No. 1 seed, but was eliminated in the first round. The Roland Garros Juniors and Wimbledon Juniors, where she participated as a top seed, also ended in the second rounds. “Competing with the pressure of the seed'' resulted in disappointing results. However, she learned from her bitter experiences. Last October, she won her first title in the lower level tour in the ITF W25 at Makinohara, where she competed among the pros. She won second place at the ITF Junior Finals, a competition for top junior players. Also, just last week, she entered the All Japan Championships as the No. 1 seed despite being 18 years old, and despite a series of struggles, she overcame them, competed and was a runner-up. These experiences shape the way she competes today.

■Speaking of experiences, the Morita Tennis Center Utsubo, where this tournament is being held, is the place where she has fond memories of winning both singles and doubles at the Osaka Mayor's Cup World Super Juniors, an international tournament on the ITF Junior Tour, in 2022. “It felt like home, and I was able to play calmly from the beginning,'' Saito said. In Osaka, where she became a top junior player, she rowed powerfully into the ocean of the WTA tour.