Naomi Osaka eases past Dominika Cibulkova in Toray Pan Pacific Open

US Open champion Naomi Osaka made a triumphant return to action on home soil in the second round of the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.

Osaka received a hero’s welcome in her native Japan after defeating Serena Williams to win her first grand slam title and gave a sold-out crowd what they were hoping for, defeating Dominika Cibulkova 6-2 6-1 in just 59 minutes.

Second seed Caroline Garcia saved three match points on her way to a 6-4 2-6 7-5 victory over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova while fourth seed Karolina Pliskova came from a set down to defeat Daria Garilova.

There was defeat, though, for sixth seed Garbine Muguruza, whose miserable season continued with a 6-1 6-2 thumping by Alison Riske.

Top seed and defending champion Jelena Ostapenko won her opening match at the Korea Open, defeating 2016 winner Lara Arruabarrena 6-3 6-3.

There were also straight-sets wins for second seed Kiki Bertens and third seed Maria Sakkari, while sixth seed Hsieh Su-wei was a 6-2 6-1 winner against Stefanie Voegele. But eighth seed Kirsten Flipkens lost 6-4 4-6 7-5 to Evgeniya Rodina.

It was a mixed day for the home nation at the Guangzhou Open, with third seed Wang Qiang defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2 6-2 but Wang Yafan and Zheng Saisai both losing, the latter despite winning the first set 6-0 against Fiona Ferro of France.

Fourth seed Aleksandra Krunic beat Christina McHale 6-3 6-3 and fifth seed Yulia Putintseva defeated Sabine Lisicki by the same scoreline, but sixth seed Viktoria Kuzmova was upset by Bernarda Pera.