TOKYO, Japan – World No.107 Aliaksandra Sasnovich caused the first major shock of this year’s Toray Pan Pacific Open, knocking out No.3 seed Karolina Pliskova in straight sets.

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Less than a fortnight after contesting the US Open final, Pliskova was brought down to earth with a bump, slipping to a 6-4, 6-2 defeat in little over an hour.

“I was expecting now to be going to Wuhan for the next tournament because I know Karolina is a really good player and I didn’t expect to win today,” Sasnovich said. “But you know it’s life and it’s tennis, the ball is round!”

Sasnovich’s reward for her maiden Top 10 win is a meeting with home favorite Naomi Osaka in the quarterfinals.

“I have a lot of emotion. It was my first win over a Top 10 player, I’m really happy with it and looking forward to the next round,” she added.

Joining her there will be fellow qualifier Magda Linette, who saved two match points to defeat Yulia Putintseva, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.

More to follow…