Kurumi Nara eased past Tamira Paszek of Austria 6-2, 6-2 on Monday in the first round of the Japan Women's Open.
Nara, ranked 81st in the world, had lost twice to her 105-ranked opponent this year but leveled their career head-to-head at 2-2 with a promising performance, breaking all but one of the Austrian's eight service games to secure the win in just over an hour at Ariake Tennis Forest Park.
"I've been losing to her after missing opportunities on her defensive slice shots, so I made sure I moved to the net to get points from those," said Nara, who was runner-up in the doubles here last year alongside Misaki Doi.