Lisicki follows up Hong Kong glory with Tokyo exit

SabineLisicki

The German, who had not won a WTA singles title since 2011, recovered from a terrible start to beat Karolina Pliskova 7-5 6-3 in Sunday's final, but will not sample similar glory in Tokyo following a 6-7 (5-7) 7-5 6-2 defeat to Casey Dellacqua.

Both players struggled on their own serve in the opening set, with each being broken on three occasions before the tie-break.

Only five of 12 points went with the serve, but Lisicki did just enough to edge her opponent and assume the lead.

And the world number 24 looked set to claim the second until she lost four games in a row to allow Dellacqua to pull level.

Lisicki seemed to be fighting a losing battle in the final set, and was maybe fortunate to win two games.

Dellacqua will now face world number 103 Marina Erakovic, who pulled off the big upset of the day by knocking out 12th-ranked Sara Errani in straight sets - 6-4 6-1.

Two-time Australian Open winner Victoria Azarenka - not seeded for the tournament in Japan - overcame an early scare to defeat home hope Kimiko Date-Krumm 2-6 6-0 6-2.

She now faces a tricky second-round opponent in the shape of third seed Ana Ivanovic.

Sixth seed Dominika Cibulkova beat Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium 6-1 6-3 to sail into the next round, while eighth seed Carla Suarez Navarro was a 6-1 2-6 6-2 winner over Kurumi Nara.

Elsewhere, Coco Vandeweghe and Jarmila Gajdosova recorded victories over Alla Kudryavtseva and Daniela Hantuchova respectively.

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