Athletes compete against each other for the title of Japan’s highest peak.Mitsubishi Electric Building Solutions All Japan Tennis Championship 99th” (main race October 4th to 13th). A total of 10 matches were held on October 10th, including the women’s singles semifinals, men’s singles third round, and men’s doubles quarterfinals.
Sakura Saito wins the long match for two consecutive days to advance to the finals
In the semifinals of the women’s singles, Sakura Saito and Saki Imamura engaged in a rally, with each other aiming for the line, with top seed Saito winning the match 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.
In the early stages, Saito could not hide his fatigue from the previous day’s long match and was led 2-5 by Imamura, but by trying to “lower his center of gravity once again,” he gradually picked up the pace and won the first set by winning five games in a row. do.
The second set was the same, with Saito chasing Imamura who was ahead. Imamura took advantage of the chance at 4-4 and the match went to the final set.
Saki Imamura Photo: Nobuyuki Koinuma
“Mr. Imamura hits with a really low trajectory, carefully and powerfully.I felt that if I didn’t add something in the rally, I wouldn’t be able to break it down properly, so I tried to shake it up with the angle and the occasional drop, ) My return was good, so I tried to mix up my first serve with my second serve and try to break the rhythm as much as possible.” Saito allowed a break first in the third game, but immediately broke back in the next game. do.
Saito played a down-the-line back, while Imamura played a reverse cross with both hands, and both players showed their strengths. Saito broke the sixth game with a love game, and he defended to advance to the finals.
“It’s been more difficult than I expected,” said Saito, looking back on his journey so far. “But all the people who have won have gone down this path.” Hearing about the experiences of his seniors, including Mayi Motodama and Ayano Shimizu, he said, I will reveal something.
In the final, he said, “My specialty is playing on the baseline, rallying without falling back, countering when I’m forced to run, and recently I’ve been practicing net play, so if I get a chance, I’ll come forward and do what I always do.” I want to play an aggressive match,” said Saito. He will be competing in the finals for the first time, aiming for his first victory.
Sayaka Ishii overwhelms Aoi Ito with her power!
Sayaka Ishii Photo: Nobuyuki Koinuma
The other semi-final was a match between second seed Aoi Ito and third seed Sayaka Ishii. The two have always been good friends, even watching the match together right before the semi-final match. Ishii says, “Aoi and I can talk about anything, and we don’t worry about each other. Even if we play the game with all our might, that won’t change.”
The battle between these two contrasting players, Ishii with his power and Ito with his technique, highlights Ishii’s service game, which was honed in the US. In the first set, Ishii jumped out to a 5-2 lead, dropped two games in a row and fell to 5-4, but held the next game and won 6-4.
Aoi Ito Photo: Nobuyuki Koinuma
Despite Ito’s efforts to confuse the opponent with slices and loose balls, Ishii maintained a low profile and ended the play, saying, “I’m starting to be able to see that he’s coming.” In the second set, Ito was the first to break, but Ishii conceded only seven points to his opponent, winning five games in a row and winning 6-3.
This will be the first time he will face Saito in the finals since the 2022 World Super Juniors. Although Ishii lost 2-64-6, he said, “At that time, I was nervous and couldn’t play well.This time I was able to play well so far, so I can have confidence.” “Maybe,” he says.
The two, who have been competing against each other since their junior days, will meet in the All-Japan finals. The women’s final, a showdown between teenagers, is sure to be a match to watch.
[MitsubishiElectricBuildingSolutionsAllJapanTennisChampionship99thOctober10thResults]
Ryoma Ito, who will retire at the end of this season, advances to the top 8 Photo: Nobuyuki Koinuma
■Women’s singles semifinals
[1]Sakura Saito (Fuji Pharmaceutical) 7-5 4-6 6-3 Saki Imamura (EM Systems)[8]
[3]Sayaka Ishii (Unibaleo) 6-4 6-3 Aoi Ito (SBC Medical Group)[2]
■Women’s doubles semifinals
Erina Hayashi (Seiren) / Kanako Morisaki (Hashimoto Sogyo Holdings) 6-3 7-5 Nanho Sato (Mita Kosan) / Momoko Kobori (Hashimoto Sogyo Holdings)[1]
Saki Imamura (EM Systems) / Hiromi Abe (EM Systems)[2] 6-3 6-0 Hikaru Yoshikawa (Fukushima Galilei) / Seira Nishimoto (Top Run)
■Men’s singles 3rd round
Ryotaro Taguchi (Team REC) [5] 7-5 6-3 Shinji Hazawa (JCR Pharma)
Shishi Isomura (Yasuiso Tennis Club) [3] 6-2 7-6(0) Hayabusa Matsuoka (B6TC) [16]
Ryoma Ito (Koyo Kaiun) 7-6 (6) 6-7 (1) 7-5 Daisuke Sumizawa (Ikai) [9]
Tatsuki Matsuda (Noah Indoor Stage)[2] 7-6(3) 7-6(5) Yu Tanaka (University of Tsukuba)[Q]
■Men’s doubles quarterfinals
Shunsuke Nakagawa/Yusuke Kusuhara (Iyo Bank) [4] 6-3 7-6(4) Yamato Sueoka / Shizuoka Isomura (Expert Power Shizuoka / Easy So Tennis Club)
Kaito Uesugi/Masakatsu Noguchi (Ezaki Glico/ONE DROP) 7-5 6-2 Shunro Takeshima/Gengo Kikuchi (JITC/Expert Power Shizuoka)
Article/Tennis,jp Photo/Nobuyuki Koinuma
