Errani bows out in Tokyo

Published February 05, 2015

Tokyo, Japan (SportsNetwork.com) - Sara Errani's stay in Tokyo was a short one, as the fifth-seeded Italian was upset by New Zealand qualifier Marina Erakovic Tuesday in the first round of the Pan Pacific Open.

Erakovic pulled off a surprisingly easy 6-4, 6-1 victory in the final singles match of the day at the Ariake Coliseum. Errani, the highest seed playing in the first round, was in action for the first time since a quarterfinal loss to Caroline Wozniacki at the U.S. Open.

Next up for Erakovic will be Australia's Casey Dellacqua, who also advanced Tuesday with a mild upset of German wild card Sabine Lisicki. Lisicki won the Hong Kong title this past weekend, but faded late on Tuesday as Dellacqua gutted out the 6-7 (5-7), 7-5, 6-2 triumph.

Sixth-seeded Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia was first on the court Tuesday and rolled to a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Kirsten Flipkens. She'll next play American CoCo Vandeweghe, a 6-2, 7-5 winner over Russian qualifier Alla Kudryavtseva.

An earthquake north of Tokyo occurred while those first two matches were played Tuesday.

Eighth-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain needed three sets to dispose of Japan's Kurumi Nara, claiming a 6-1, 2-6, 6-1 victory and will next meet Russian qualifier Daria Gavrilova, who rallied from a set down to beat American Lauren Davis, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Victoria Azarenka rebounded from a poor first set to earn a 3-6, 6-0, 6-2 win over Japanese wild card Kimiko Date-Krumm. The native of Belarus will next meet third-seeded Ana Ivanovic of Serbia in a battle of former world No. 1s on Wednesday.

Also Tuesday, Australian qualifier Jarmila Gajdosova posted a 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 win over Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova to set up a second-round match against Wozniacki on Thursday. The second-seeded Dane won the 2010 Tokyo crown and will play for the first time since losing to Serena Williams in the U.S. Open final.

Wednesday's second-round schedule also includes top-seeded Angelique Kerber against Ukraine's Elina Svitolina. The German star was last year's Tokyo runner-up to Petra Kvitova.

The 2014 Pan Pacific champion will claim $196,670.

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