Playing through an earthquake, sixth-seeded Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia beat Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium 6-1, 6-3 Tuesday and advanced to the second round of the Pan Pacific Open.
During the last game of the match, an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.6 hit an area north of Tokyo. The earthquake was felt by the players.
Cibulkova held all eight of her service games while saving four break points at Ariake Coliseum. She will next play Coco Vandeweghe of the United States, who rallied from 4-2 down in the second set to beat Russian qualifier Alla Kudryavtseva 6-2, 7-5.
Also, Marina Erakovic of New Zealand beat fifth-seeded Sara Errani of Italy 6-4, 6-1, eighth-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain defeated Kurumi Nara of Japan 6-1, 2-6, 6-2, and Victoria Azarenka of Belarus rallied to beat Japanese veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm 3-6, 6-0, 6-2.
Jarmila Gajdosova of Australia and Daria Gavrilova of Russia also advanced.
