Tammy downs young gun in Japan
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Top seed Tamarine Tanasugarn eased past Japanese wild card Risa Ozaki 6-3 6-4 in the first round of the US$50,000 M3D Kofu International Open Tennis at the Yamanashi Gakuin Yokone Centre yesterday.
The 34-year-old skipped the ongoing WTA event in Beijing to enter the smaller event as a warm-up for the tournament next week in Osaka, where she will be defending her title.
“She’s a young, up-and-coming player. I was up 5-2 in both sets and then she started playing better. I’m happy to get through,’’ said Tamarine who next faces either Sachie Ishizu or Yumi Miyazaki of Japan.
Thai No 2 Noppawan Lertchee-wakarn failed to proceed to the next stage, losing to Chihiro Takayama of Japan 4-6 6-0 6-2.
