Ayumi Morita got her sweet revenge while 2 seeded players crashed out

Wild card Ayumi Morita fought back in such tight battle and won over Hungarian Agnes Szavay 6-7(7), 7-5, 6-4 in the opening round of Toray Pan Pacific Open at Ariake Colosseum in Tokyo. It was indeed Morita's sweet revenge as she lost to Szavay 1-6, 6-4, 4-6 at Roland Garros last June. Morita was all pumped-up and showed her tenacity in keeping the ball in play then forced her opponent to make errors. On the other hand, a rising player last year, Szavay has not found her solid form as top 20 player after Wimbledon till now. Morita waits the winner of 1st round match between 5th seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova and China's number one Li Na.

Sixth seeded Agnieszka Radwanska in her first appearance here in Tokyo made a solid start and defeated wild card Aiko Nakamura with 6-1, 6-4 victory. Next in 2nd round, Radwanska will face Marion Bartoli of France who dispatched Russian Maria Kirilenko 6-2, 6-2. The younger Pole is leading 2-0 in her head to head against Bartoli. In their last meeting at Eastbourne this past summer, Radwanska won 7-5, 6-3 in the semi-final.

Anna Chakvetadze of Russia did not pass the 1st round. As 8th seeded she lost to qualifier Kaia Kanepi from Estonia. Currently ranked WTA 39, Kanepi is now leading 3-1 in her head to head with Chakvetadze. Her last victory was at French Open last summer when she won 6-4, 7-6(2) over Chakvetadze. Kanepi still waits winner of the 1st round match between Virginie Razzano of France and Japanese fans' favorite Ai Sugiyama.

Seventh seeded Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia also did not make it into 2nd round. Still struggling in returning to her best form after injury, Hantuchova bowed out to Italian Francesca Schiavone, 1-6, 5-7. Schiavone is now 3-1 against the Slovak.

Other winners are Flavia Pennetta from Italy beat Shahar Peer of Israel, 6-4, 6-4; Alize Cornet of France edged past qualifier Aleksandra Wozniak from Canada, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3; Slovak Dominika Cibulkova outclassed wild card Amelie Mauresmo of France, 0-6, 6-1, 7-6(8).