Seventh-seed Shinobu Asagoe overpowered Maria Vento-Kabchi in straight sets to advance to the second round of the women's singles at the Japan Open in Tokyo on Monday.
Japan's Saori Obata returns the ball to Slovakia's Martina Sucha during the first round of the
AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships at Tokyo's Ariake Tennis Forest Park on Monday. Obata won
6-1, 6-0.
Asagoe defeated unseeded Venezuelan Vento-Kabchi 6-3, 6-3 in blustery conditions at Ariake Tennis Forest Park and was joined in the second round by fellow Japanese Saori Obata and Rika Fujiwara.