Six wins from six matches — that was Kazakhstan's record on the opening day of the tennis tournament at the 20th Summer Asian Games in Japan. Every Kazakh player who stepped onto the court won, infohub.kz reports.

Anna Danilina, Yulia Putintseva, Sonya Zhiyenbayeva, Zhibek Kulambayeva, Alexander Shevchenko, Timofey Skatov, Denis Yevseyev and Beibit Zhukayev are competing for Kazakhstan at the 2026 Asian Games. Danilina, Putintseva, Kulambayeva and Zhiyenbayeva arrived in Japan from China, where they played for the national team in the Billie Jean King Cup.

In the women's singles round of 32, Sonya Zhiyenbayeva (Kazakhstan, world No. 384) defeated Adithya Karunaratne of Hong Kong (No. 519) 6-1, 7-5. Yulia Putintseva (No. 79) dropped just one game against Ushna Suhail of Pakistan, winning 6-1, 6-0.

In the men's doubles round of 32, Alexander Shevchenko and Timofey Skatov beat the Hong Kong pair Jack Cheng / Sing Hang Tam 6-3, 6-2. Denis Yevseyev (No. 546) and Beibit Zhukayev (No. 1494) also defeated Hong Kong's Xu Chichen and Qi Fu Wong (No. 786) 6-1, 6-3.

In mixed doubles at the same stage, Zhibek Kulambayeva (No. 105) and Beibit Zhukayev (No. 1494) proved stronger than Pakistan's Ushna Suhail / Aqeel Khan (No. 1834), winning 6-2, 6-1. Anna Danilina (No. 6) and Alexander Shevchenko defeated Mahin Aftab Qureshi and Aisam Qureshi of Pakistan 6-3, 7-5.

Strangely, Kazakhstan has not won many tennis medals at the Asian Games. In Nagoya, that needs to change.

The 20th Summer Asian Games officially opened on September 19 and will close on October 4. Athletes from 45 countries are competing for 460 sets of medals. Kazakhstan's team at the 2026 Asian Games includes 558 athletes in 35 sports.

On the first day of the Games, Kazakhstan won four gold medals. Cyclists Rinata Sultanova and Alexey Lutsenko, as well as karateka Zholaman Bigabyl and Sofia Berultseva, became champions. MMA fighter Yerkingali Burkutalin added a fifth gold to the team's tally, and his mixed martial arts teammate Kadyrbek Shynbayev added a sixth. On September 23, Lutsenko became a two-time champion of the 2026 Asian Games. The eighth gold was won on September 24 by rowers Vladislav Yakovlev and Ivan Chernukhin in the men's coxless pairs. Yassmina Toksanbayeva won the ninth gold today in race walking. The tenth gold was claimed by our epee team.

After seven days of the Games, Kazakhstan was fifth in the unofficial medal standings.