Katie Poulter: British No. 3 beats Linda Noskova at Japan Open to reach second round with most impressive win since Wimbledon | Tennis News

Katie Poulter overcame second seed Linda Noskova in the first round of the Japan Open 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 in her most impressive win in months.

Poulter has endured a largely disappointing summer and entered this week’s WTA 250 tournament in Osaka with five losses in the opening matches of seven tournaments, including the US Open in August.

The poor performance meant that she fell behind Emma Raducanu and Sunay Kartal in the world rankings, becoming British No. 3, but she showed signs of her best performance by winning in straight sets over Noskova to set up a second round match against Romanian Sorana Cirstea on Wednesday. Sky Sports Tennis.

“I’m really happy with my performance today,” said Poulter, whose last win over a top 20 player was over Paula Badosa at Wimbledon last July. “It’s been a tough few weeks.”

“I just tried to bet on myself, stick to the ball and go for it. Against someone like Linda, you have to win the game, and they’re not going to lose. I went out there and played a good game, so I’m happy.”

“I’m not sure what it is, but I gravitate towards Japan. I love it here. I played here a few times when I was younger. I don’t know why I have such great feelings here but it showed on the field.”

Poulter came off the counterattack with an immediate break of serve to take a 2-0 lead, but a series of errors, coupled with good shots from Noskova, saw the Czech player win four matches in a row.

But Poulter returned to make it 4-4 and saved a set point at 5-4 down before breaking in the 11th game to have the chance to serve out the match.

Poulter was unable to hold her serve and committed a double fault, sending Noskova, ranked 17th in the world, to send the first set to a decisive tiebreak, where the British player was superior throughout and made a strong sound when she decided the set.

Noskova broke her opponent’s serve early in the second set, before the fatigue resulting from her recent great career appeared in the final of the China Open and in the round of sixteen of the Wuhan Open last week.

Poulter broke in the sixth game and was never threatened on her serve as she held break advantage until the end of the match.

Earlier, top seed Naomi Osaka delighted her fans with a comfortable 6-0, 6-4 victory over wild card Wakana Sonobi.

On Monday afternoon, Britain’s Jacob Fearnley begins his Stockholm Open campaign against Talon Greksborg at around 2pm – live Sky Sports Tennis.

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