Former finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova needed less than an hour to beat Dayana Yastremska 6-3, 6-1 on Monday in the first round of the Toray Pan Pacific Open.
Pavlyuchenkova, who lost the 2017 final to Caroline Wozniacki, went on a roll early in the second set to win 11 of the first 12 points and took a 4-0 lead before dropping serve. She broke at love in Yastremska's next service game and quickly confirmed a spot in the second round against second-seeded Kiki Bertens.
In other first-round matches, Elise Mertens beat Whitney Osuigwe 6-3, 6-1; Nicole Gibbs upset fellow American Alison Riske 6-4, 6-3; Zarina Diyas had a 6-0, 6-3 win over Olympic gold medalist Monica Puig; and Camila Giorgi held off qualifier Han Xinyun 7-6 (6), 6-1.
Viktoriya Tomova needed 2 hours, 43 minutes to overcome Alizé Cornet 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
At the Korea Open in Seoul, second-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova opened with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Belgian qualifier Greet Minnen.
Alexandrova, who had nine aces and broke Minnen's serve four times, will next play Kristyna Pliskova, a 6-1, 6-4 winner over Korean wildcard entry Choi Ji-hee.
Other seeded players advancing included No. 3 Magda Linette, who beat Irina-Camelia Begu 6-1, 6-4, No. 7 Margarita Gasparyan and No. 8 Wang Yafan.
At the Ghangzhou International in China, two seeded players were ousted on Monday, with 2017 finalist Aleksandra Krunic beating No. 7 Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-4, 6-2 and Bernarda Pera advancing 6-4, 6-3 over eighth-seeded Ons Jabeur.
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MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Blowing late leads has become a hallmark of Manchester United's season.
Erik ten Hag hopes that changes when Liverpool comes to Old Trafford on Sunday. United is still clinging to hopes of a Champions League spot, despite a stunning 4-3 loss to Chelsea on Thursday night.
United first gave away the lead in the 10th minute of stoppage time at Stamford Bridge and then the game a minute later — both goals coming from Cole Palmer.
That followed a blown lead in a 1-1 draw at Brentford last Saturday. United had just recovered from celebrating Mason Mount's goal in the 96th when Kristoffer Ajer tied it three minutes later.
“We can beat the best teams in the Premier League,” Ten Hag said. “When you beat them in the Premier League, you can do it across Europe, but we need to learn how you win games ... how you bring games over the line and get the three points. We have to step up."
Dropping five points in the past two games is “very expensive,” he added.
“Games are running out. We know that and we have to catch up and we are now many points behind,” Ten Hag said. “It will be difficult. We will keep fighting.”
With eight games remaining, United is nine points behind fifth-place Tottenham and 11 points back of fourth-place Aston Villa. Because of a format change to the Champions League next season, the Premier League might get a fifth spot in Europe's elite club competition.
Blowing leads is not a new problem.
United exited the Champions League at the group stage — in last place. They gave away second-half leads in three of those games: a 3-2 home loss to Galatasaray; a 4-3 defeat at Copenhagen; and a 3-3 draw at Galatasaray.
The good news? United has actually closed out a big win recently — over Liverpool 4-3 after extra time in a thrilling FA Cup quarterfinal match. Marcus Rashford tied it at 3-3 before Amad Diallo's winner at Old Trafford.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp pointed to uncharacteristic errors that they'll need to avoid this time.
“We were really good that day but didn’t finish the situations off in extra time,” Klopp said. “We made mistakes we didn’t make before at all. We better play a really good football game to be honest, if we want something there.”
First-place Liverpool holds a two-point lead over Arsenal heading into the weekend.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Manchester United's head coach Erik ten Hag gives instructions from the side line during the English Premier League soccer match between Chelsea and Manchester United at Stamford Bridge in London, Thursday, April 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Manchester United players react after referee award a penalty to Chelsea during the English Premier League soccer match between Chelsea and Manchester United at Stamford Bridge in London, Thursday, April 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
