Motodama’s Grand Slam Dreams Shattered: Japanese Star Crashes Out in Second Round
Hondama Makoto
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The second round of the women’s singles at the Jasmine Open Tunisia (Tunisia/Monastir, hard, WTA250) was held on the 11th, and world ranking 109th Motodama Mayu lost in straight sets 2-6, 2-6 to world No. 151 S. Kartal (Great Britain), failing to advance to the quarterfinals for the second year in a row.
The 25-year-old Mototama qualified for the US Open (New York, USA, hard, Grand Slam) last week but lost in the second round. She then competed in the Incheon Open International (Incheon, Korea, hard, ITF) but lost in the first round.
In this year’s tournament, Mototama defeated P. Nugroho (Indonesia), ranked 621st in the world, in straight sets 6-2, 6-1 in the first round, securing her second consecutive first-round victory.
However, in the second round, Mototama lost the first three games in a row and was broken for the second time in the eighth game, taking the first set. In the second set, Mototama’s service games were also unstable, and she allowed two breaks and was unable to grab a single break chance throughout the match, losing her strength in 1 hour and 18 minutes.
Kartal will now face world No. 130 Y. Starodubtseva (Ukraine) in the quarterfinals. Starodubtseva defeated third seed D. Parry (France) in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 in the second round.
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