Shinobu Asagoe of Japan knocked out Patty Schnyder of Switzerland in straight sets Thursday to advance to the third round in the U.S. Open tennis championships.
Playing with great confidence and control, Asagoe, ranked 94th in the world, finished off the 22nd-ranked Swiss with an ace in the 10th game, winning the match 7-5, 6-4 in 80 minutes.
"I knew that I would never get a point if I just wait for her to make a mistake, so I tried to play aggressively," Asagoe, 24, said after her match.
Schnyder thought the ace Asagoe served on match point was out. When the umpire allowed the point to stand, Schnyder slammed her racket on the hard-court surface, breaking the head before packing up and exiting the court in disgust.
Asagoe, the only surviving Japanese singles player in the tournament, has never before advanced beyond a second round in a grand slam event.
Asagoe's third-round opponent is 57th ranked Lilia Osterloh of the United States.
In a major upset Thursday, Ai Sugiyama of Japan and Mahesh Bhupathi of India, the defending U.S. Open mixed doubles champions, were routed 6-3, 6-1 in the first round by Karina Habsudova of Slovakia and David Rikl of the Czech Republic.
"I think they played unbelievably good and we couldn't hold the serve," Sugiyama said. "Today, nothing went right."
In women's doubles first-round action, Sugiyama paired with Julie Halard-Decugis of France to beat Sandra Nacuk of Yugoslavia and Tina Pisnik of Slovenia 7-6 (7-1), 6-4 while Nana Miyagi of Japan and South African Surina de Beer prevailed over Patricia Wartusch of Austria and Vanessa Webb of Canada 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.