US Open champion Naomi Osaka made a hugely impressive return to the WTA Tour by thrashing Dominika Cibulkova in front of an enthusiastic crowd at the Tokyo Tennis Open.
As Japan’s first grand slam champion, Osaka’s return to the land of her birth has created huge excitement in the Far East and she lived up to the hype with a stunning display which proved too much for an error-strewn Cibulkova.
Two breaks in the first set and three in the second saw the 20-year-old run out a 6-2 6-1 winner in just 59 minutes.
Third seed Osaka then proceeded to charm the delighted audience further by answering in broken Japanese in her on-court interview.
Karolina Pliskova exacted some family revenge on Daria Gavrilova by beating the Australian 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Gavrilova beat Kristyna Pliskova on Monday but was unable to oust her sister too, the former world number one easing through to a quarter-final meeting with American qualifier Alison Riske.