Paris: No. 2 seed Akane Yamaguchi of Japan clinched a revenge win over No. 1 seed Tai Tzu Ying of Taiwan on Sunday for her loss in the 2017 French Open final.
Yamaguchi and Tai were neck and neck in the first set of this year’s French Open final, where Tai managed to save a game point, but Yamaguchi held her nerve to clinch the first set 22-10.
The Japanese player continued to lead in the second set until the interval, but Tai was able to make all the right adjustments needed to beat Yamaguchi 21-17 to force a decider.
Yamaguchi’s speed, consistency and strong defense rattled the World No. 1 Tai Tzu Ying in the decider, making her appeared meek and error-prone. Yamaguchi was able to pick up Japan’s second title of the day with a 21-13 win in the third set.
Japan’s first title of the day came when reigning World women’s doubles champions and No. 5 seeds Mayu Matsumoto/Wakana Nagahara of Japan produced a brilliant performance to down Gabriela Stoeva/Stefani Stoeva of Bulgaria 21-14, 21-19 in 43 minutes.
Earlier Sunday, China’s World No. 1 mixed doubles pair Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong had to thwart a spirited fightback from Seo Seung Jae/Chae Yujung of Korea, beating Seo/Chae 21-19, 21-14 to claim their 8th title of the year.
