A quartet of Brits here with coach Luke Milligan for the Grade 2 and Grade A, with Katy Dunne looking to break into the top 50. Katy, Katie Boulter and Harriet Dart are all seeded and will take on Japanese opposition in round 2, but Anna Brogan has a tough draw with second seed Karin Kennel, who has trounced several top Brits in the last year, awaiting the winner of her match in round 2.
Straightforward for Anna who now needs an upset to avoid being in the doghouse. Harriet and Katy team up again looking for a second Grade 2 title, having triumphed in Egypt.
R1 (L64)
Anna Brogan (GBR) d. (WC) Miyu Hashimoto (JPN) 6-1 6-1
R2
Manae Miwa (JPN) v (13) Katie Boulter (GBR) bye (3) Katy Dunne (GBR) v Risa Ushijima (JPN) Mao Nishiguchi (JPN) v (12) Harriet Dart (GBR) Anna Brogan (GBR) v (2) Karin Kennel (SUI)
Four expected results, with Anna performing creditably and Katie having a scare. The seed who Harriet plays next has a modest record for someone at her level, so there's a good opportunity for Harriet and Katy to progress further. Katie's opponent appears tougher though not unbeatable, as her impressive record is in weakish tournaments.
R2
(13) Katie Boulter (GBR) d. Manae Miwa (JPN) 4-6 7-5 6-4 (3) Katy Dunne (GBR) d. Risa Ushijima (JPN) 6-3 6-3 (12) Harriet Dart (GBR) d. Mao Nishiguchi (JPN) 6-4 6-2 (2) Karin Kennel (SUI) d. Anna Brogan (GBR) 6-4 6-7(4) 6-3
R3
(1) Ching-Wen Hsu (TPE) v (13) Katie Boulter (GBR) (3) Katy Dunne (GBR) v Kyoka Okamura (JPN) (5) Klaartje Liebens (BEL) v (12) Harriet Dart (GBR)
They played 2 rounds today to catch up after rain, and it could prove to be a breakthrough tournament for Katie, after she backed up a first win over a top 25 ranked junior to reach her fist Grade 2 semi. Harriet was very close to making it a clean sweep into the quarters, whilst in the semis Katie now has a chance to avenge Katy's defeat against a girl who reached a Grade 1 final in her last tournament. Perhaps a big ask after 2 long 3 setters in a day (her opponent had 1 easy match).
The QF for Ms Kalinina doesn't look as if it was unusually easy ... though one match is always better than two.
Sorry about the ambiguity. Indiana correctly interprets that I was referring to the round 3 match where Kalinina defeated Alexandria Stiteler 6-1 6-3 - keen readers will remember the latter as the top seed who Gabi Taylor beat in Morocco a couple of weeks ago.
No results yet but Katy tweeted that she has one more doubles match to play today, so she and Harriet must be through to the semis
A fine effort by Katie, but another long three setter (seemingly) proved unsuccessful (I add the rider because on the Japanese drawsheet both semis have identical scores, so there may be a mistake, but the oop confirms the winner). Harriet and Katy make it 2 consecutive Grade 2 finals together
