Ashleigh Barty and CoCo Vandeweghe teamed up to win the doubles title at the U.S Open earlier this month. The two friends were on the court together again on Tuesday, but only one could walk away as the winner this time.
Barty dropped the first set then regrouped to win the next two, beating her playing partner 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 in the first round of the Toray Pan Pacific Open at Arena Tachikawa Tachihi on Tuesday.
"Obviously a very difficult match, playing a close friend and someone I've had success with very recently," Barty said. "Difficult for both of us, but I think we respect each other enough to play hard and know that whoever played better today was going to come out with the win."