Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima went down to Paris Olympics gold medalist Zheng Qinwen of China 7-5, 6-0 in the second round of the Pan Pacific Open tennis tournament on Thursday.

Women’s world No. 57 Uchijima, Japan’s highest-ranked player here after Naomi Osaka pulled out injured, tested the tournament’s top seed in the first set but failed to maintain that level of play against her seventh-ranked opponent at Tokyo’s Ariake Colosseum.

“I like to play here because two years ago I made the final,” said the 22-year-old Zheng, in reference to her 7-5, 7-5 defeat against Liudmila Samsonova of Russia in 2022.

“I’m the seed No. 1 in this tournament, that (has not happened) often this year. Of course I feel a bit of pressure…but pressure is a privilege. I feel sometimes pressure can make me play better.”

Zheng broke first in the opening set’s third game before Uchijima broke back immediately, helped by a good return. But after matching her higher-ranked opponent in the battle of groundstrokes, the 23-year-old double-faulted in the 11th game for Zheng’s second break and a 6-5 lead.

The Chinese broke to begin the second set, while Uchijima failed to convert her triple breakpoint in the next game. Zheng broke again to go 3-0 up as Uchijima’s shots started going astray before the pair’s first meeting ended in 1 hour, 17 minutes.

China’s Zheng Qinwen plays a shot against Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima during a Pan Pacific Open second-round match at Tokyo’s Ariake Colosseum on Oct. 24, 2024. (Kyodo)

“Honestly speaking, I managed to play better than I was expecting,” said Uchijima, whose mother is Malaysian. “She was a bit similar to me, trying to build her rallies around her forehand.”

“I gained confidence too from the fact that the quality of my shots wasn’t that much worse than hers…It motivates me to have someone from Asia playing at the top level.”

Japan’s Kyoko Okamura lost against ninth-seeded Katie Boulter of Britain 6-1, 6-2, leaving 19-year-old Sayaka Ishii as Japan’s only player left in the singles draw after her win on Wednesday against Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez.

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