[Women’s Singles Second Round]
Mary Stoiana (USA) 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 Moyuka Uchijima (JPN)

■Stoiana played aggressively, combining powerful groundstrokes with well-timed approaches to the net to finish points. Uchijima struggled to find the right timing against her opponent’s shots and had difficulty making clean contact. “I wasn’t feeling the ball,” Uchijima said. One reason she could not strike the ball with confidence was the unusual trajectory of Stoiana’s groundstrokes. “The ball was coming at me a little faster and lower than I expected.” It took Uchijima time to adjust, and she was outplayed in the opening set, losing 3-6.

■However, at 1-1 in the second set, Uchijima broke Stoiana’s serve for the first time. From that point, the accuracy of her shots gradually improved. She won the set 6-2 and carried her momentum into the deciding set, taking a 2-0 lead. Having won five consecutive games over the two sets, Uchijima appeared to have seized control of the match. But in the next game she allowed Stoiana to hold her serve after two deuces,. “Not being able to close out that game was the biggest reason I lost,” Uchijima said. Had she broken serve twice in succession, her opponent might have been demoralized. But Uchijima could not deliver that final push, allowing Stoiana to regain her composure. Stoiana broke back to level the set at 2-2, then broke Uchijima again when she served at 3-4. Once the momentum had shifted in Stoiana’s favor, Uchijima could no longer turn the tide.

■“I was able to believe in my shots and in myself,” said Stoiana after her hard-fought victory. Uchijima, meanwhile, seemed to have rediscovered her feel for the ball in the second set, but admitted, “I wasn’t being allowed to play comfortably.” The difference in how much each player trusted herself became apparent at the crucial moments. Troubled by the trajectory of her opponent’s shots and fighting throughout the match with a sense of frustration and uncertainty, Uchijima may have found it inevitable that she could not produce the decisive push when it mattered most.

■“Neither my first-round nor my second-round performance was satisfactory,” Uchijima said. She is scheduled to compete next week at the WTA 500 Toray Pan Pacific Open. “I want to put this behind me and deliver a better performance. I hope the results will follow.” Her goal is to secure direct entry into the main draw of next year’s Australian Open in January. With the season drawing to a close, she looks to make a final push in her remaining two tournaments.

(Japan Tennis Associaton)