Whilst I don’t really expect to see a Brit in action at the back end of tennis tournaments, I always hope that the stars align so that I can follow the fortunes of them, and this time I got to complete the full set of British players taking part at this year’s Japan Open.
Qualifying started last Saturday (October 24th) but my Toray Pan Pacific Open (TPPO) experience began the following day on the Show Court (the second main court) where a Grand Slam champion was taking on Alycia Parks from the USA.
The 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu is not who I am talking about but someone who won a mixed-doubles grand slam at Wimbledon alongside Henri Kontinen in 2016. That person was Heather Watson, and she was first on court against Parks. They played just a single point though before rain stopped play! Not only that but it was a double fault from Parks!
With the scoreboard saying that only 12 seconds had been played, the players left the court whilst some staff and even the Umpire got the towels out to wipe the moisture off the surface.
When the players did return about half an hour later there was an earthquake followed by a mix of scorching hot, windy and cloudy conditions.
Watson was 15-0 up before the interruption and on her return it was downhill from there and she was sadly outclassed and went down 6-1, 6-2.
Usually at the end of any match the defeated player departs without much fuss whilst the winner takes the accolades and gets the attention from the crowd. This was a strange one as Parks left the court immediately whilst Watson was asked by a guy for a towel. I was hovering in the background and to my surprise, she then asked if I wanted one too to which I accepted gleefully before engaging in some chat whilst a few others got things signed. We then chatted for about a minute to the side of the court before I got my photo and showed my appreciation for her time in such disappointing circumstances.
The following day (October 26th) was the proper start to the tournament and the evening match included Britain’s Mika Stojsavljevic who was born and raised in Britain but her parents are from Croatia and Poland.
My selfie with Mika Stojsavljevic!
When she and her opponent walked on court there was a familiar face with a Union Jack flag in the background! This was no accident though as I had noticed from the other player entrances on the TPPO Insta page that it was always the same angle and that I could easily be seen if I stood in a certain spot.
Mika was up against the hugely popular Alex Eala from the Philippines who always has massive support for her wherever she goes. To be honest, I am actually one of those fans and know far more about her than Mika. However, I felt it was my national duty to support a fellow Brit.
This was actually my second time to see Mika at the TPPO as I saw her play an epic match two years ago ahead of Katie Boulter’s match but had no idea she was British until a day or two later!
Thanks to the Filipino contingent the atmosphere, with the roof closed due to the heavy rain, was better than usual but the attendance was still fairly poor.
Eala blitzed the first set and was soon 5-0 up before Mika finally got on the scoreboard and avoided a bagel. The next set started a bit better but in the end it was a convincing 6-1, 6-2 for the Filipina superstar.
Day 2 (27th October) was thankfully a clear day and play began over on Court 1 with British doubles player Olivia Nicholls who was partnered by Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova.
It was really, really crowded for a fairly low-profile match because veteran Japanese doubles specialist Shuko Aoyama was on court afterwards. Nicholls and her doubles partner were up against a higher ranked pair, but you wouldn’t have guessed that as they ran out winners in straight sets with a 6-2, 6-3 victory.
At the start of this year’s TPPO, just three Brits were involved in the singles and doubles, and I was happy to have witnessed all of them play. Whilst it didn’t quite go to plan for Watson and Stojsavljevic it certainly did for Nicholls who, together with her doubles partner, has advanced to the latter stages of the tournament. (As I write, they are in the semifinals!)
I put Heather’s sweaty towel down to take a photo that evening & our dog was on it in a flash!
Click here to read ‘From Qualification to the 1st Round & Beyond? Following The Fortunes of My Favourite British & German Tennis Players in Tokyo!’
Click here to read ‘The Highs & Lows of the 2025 Japan Open Tennis Tournament’
Click here to read ‘I Met Britain’s No. 1 Female Tennis Player in Tokyo (& I Was on the TV Coverage a Fair Bit Too!)’
Click here to read ‘A Brit Finally Plays at Tokyo’s Top Tennis Tournament & I Got to Meet Her!’
