TOKYO, Japan – No.7 seed Christina McHale survived a late wobble to defeat Kateryna Kozlova and take her place in the second round of the Japan Women’s Open Tennis.

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In her first match since a disappointing second-round defeat to Roberta Vinci at the US Open, McHale looked to have weathered the storm when she broke for a 5-3 in the deciding set. However, Kozlova had no intention of going quietly, promptly breaking back to ensure a tense finish.

McHale regrouped to force a tie-break and despite spurning two match points, closed out a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(5) victory after almost three hours on court.

Elsewhere, there were mixed fortunes for the draw’s other seeds as Zhang Shuai came through her own rollercoaster, while Kateryna Bondarenko and Madison Brengle fell at the first hurdle.

Taking on wildcard Eri Hozumi and the home crowd, Zhang recovered from a slow start to both the first set, then a second set whitewash before ultimately prevailing, 7-6(4), 1-6, 6-3.

Bondarenko, the No.8 seed, was edged out by Louisa Chirico, 6-4, 7-5, while No.5 seed Brengle lost the final four games to slip to a 6-1, 6-4 defeat at the hands of Jana Cepelova.

The remaining seeds will all be in action on Tuesday, including last year’s winner, Yanina Wickmayer and home favorite Misaki Doi, who begins her bid to become the tournament’s first Japanese champion against Aliaksandra Sasnovich.