OSAKA, Japan (AP) — Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisicki of Germany beat Chanelle Scheepers of South Africa 7-5, 7-6 (1) to reach the second round of the Japan Open on Tuesday.
The second-seeded Lisicki struggled with a right wrist injury after making her first Grand Slam singles final and has yet to win more than two matches in a row since then. She is the highest seeded player in the draw after No. 1-seeded Jelena Jankovic pulled out because of an injured left hip.
Lisicki served five aces and took advantage of eight double faults by Scheepers to set up a second-round match against Polona Hercog of Slovenia, who beat Petra Cetkovska of the Czech Republic 6-4, 5-7, 6-1.
In other matches, Vania King of the United States ousted fourth-seeded Flavia Pennetta of Italy 3-6, 7-5, 6-0, and 43-year-old Japanese veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm downed 19-year-old Laura Robson of Britain 6-4, 6-4.
Other winners included No. 6-seeded Madison Keys of the United States and No. 9 Kristina Mladenovic of France.
