[Women’s Singles – First Round]
Moyuka Uchijima (JPN) 6-4, 6-7(7), 6-3 Ena Shibahara (JPN)

■Shibahara took the initiative and Uchijima responded in their rallies. The first set remained closely contested until the last stages, but Uchijima prevailed 6-4. In the game where Uchijima broke serve, Shibahara’s high-risk attacks backfired. The second set went to a tiebreak, Uchijima letting four match points escape and eventually losing the set. Looking back, Uchijima reflected, “I had two serves on those match points, so of course I was disappointed. But she was serving well, too, and she played boldly at the end. I also backed off a little at times.”

■After losing the second set in such frustrating way, Uchijima faced the challenge of regaining her composure for the final set. “I felt like I just had to get on with it, and I was able to go into the third set with a positive mindset,” she said. She broke serve at 4-3 and closed out the match decisively. “I reset mentally and was able to play my own game to the end,” she said.

■Uchijima had anticipated that Shibahara would put her under pressure with her powerful serves. With that in mind, she focused on “staying fully concentrated on my own service games.” On returns, her strategy was to “keep fighting and look for one or two openings to attack.” That opportunity came at a crucial moment late in the final set. “Things went my way,” Uchijima said, suggesting that luck had played a part. More than luck, however, she credited her ability to stay focused on her service games, saying proudly that she had “stuck to that approach until the very end.”

(Japan Tennis Association)