In the first round of the 1000-person tournament in Doha, Yulia Putintseva played against Mayuka Uchijima. Yulia is ranked 20th. The Japanese player is ranked 63rd. Bookmakers had Putintseva as a clear favorite. The odds on her victory were 1.23. The odds on Uchijima were over 3. The odds on Yulia to win 2-0 were 1.59.

First set: no surprises

Putinseva was the first to serve. She confidently took the first point. In the second game, she converted the break. After that, she confirmed it. After that, they exchanged games won on her serve. In the eighth game, Putintseva converted the second break, winning the point on her opponent's serve under "0". Thus, she won the first set: 6 – 2.

Second set

The beginning was equal. But in the fifth game, Mayuka was able to realize the break. She took the lead: 2 – 3. After that, she confirmed it on her serve. In the eighth game, Yulia realized the return break. She tied the score. But she could not confirm it. Uchijima realized the second break and went to serve for the set. Putintseva immediately realized the return break. After that, she confirmed it. Yuchijima took her serve and transferred the set to a tie-break.

Tie-break

After a short struggle, Putintseva gave in. She lost the tie-break with a score of: 5 – 7. Thus, Mayuka showed that she can fight with stronger opponents.

Third set

Before the third set, the odds for winning changed slightly compared to before the match (1.49 to 2.64). Yulia was able to convert a break in the first game. She immediately confirmed it. In the third game, Putintseva converted the second break. In the fourth game, the Japanese player was able to convert a break. She reduced the gap in the score. She immediately confirmed it (3 - 2). Unexpectedly, Putintseva lost the sixth game on her serve. The score becomes equal (3 - 3). In the seventh game, Yulia converted a break and took the lead again. After that, Putintseva finally pulled herself together and won two games in a row. Thus, she was able to beat Mayuka Uchijima. The score of the third set: 6 - 3. The score of the match: 2 - 1. In the second round, Putintseva will play Noskova.