The second seed in qualifying, Nao Hibino, defeated Aoi Ito in the second round of qualifying at the hard-court WTA 500 tournament in Singapore with a prize fund of $1,2 million. The all-Japanese meeting ended 6-2 2-6 7-6(2). According to rank.tennis, Hibino is ranked 157th with 487 points, while Ito is 361st with 185 points.
The first two sets mirrored each other. Hibino took the opening set 6-2, and Ito answered with the same score in the second. The deciding set went to a tiebreak, and there Hibino dropped only two points to her opponent.
What the numbers say
According to api.tennis, serve was not a weapon for either player in this match. Between them, they produced 14 breaks, seven each. Hibino converted 7 of 15 break points, while Ito went 7 of 10. Ito had twice as many double faults, 12 to 6. Hibino hit 2 aces, while Ito had none. On first serve, Hibino won 30 of 53 points, while Ito finished with 31 of 59. In total, Hibino scored 94 points, while Ito had 84.
Earlier in Singapore, Hibino beat Kay Nin Chanyn Ng 6-0 6-1, while Ito defeated Sofia Lansere 6-4 6-4. Their head-to-head is now 1-0 in Hibino's favor.