Taylah Preston vs Himeno Sakatsume — R32 — Korea Open

Taylah Preston beat Himeno Sakatsume 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 in the round of 32 at the Korea Open, the WTA 250 in Seoul. The 20-year-old Australian, ranked WTA No. 92, broke in the opening game and again for 4-1, and Sakatsume did not earn a break point in the set. The second went the other way. Broken for 2-1, Sakatsume broke straight back, took Preston's serve again in game 6 and broke once more in game 9 to level the match at a set apiece. Preston's break in game 6 of the decider moved her ahead 4-2, though finishing took some doing: three of her seven double faults came in that set, and Sakatsume saved two match points. Sakatsume had two break-point chances in the third and converted neither. Over the match, Preston won five of 13 return games to her opponent's two of 12. Preston arrived off a US Open second-round loss to Taylor Townsend, and William Hill's market had made Sakatsume the narrow favorite at 53 percent. Preston, WTA No. 205 to start the season, moves into the round of 16.