Kazakhstan's women's tennis team made a strong start at the 20th Summer Asian Games 2026, hosted by Japan's Aichi-Nagoya region, as both Kazakh players won their opening singles matches, infohub.kz reports.
Kazakhstan's No. 2 in women's singles, Yulia Putintseva, cruised past Ushna Suhail of Pakistan in the first round. The match ended 6-1, 6-0 and lasted just 41 minutes.
During the match, the Kazakh player hit one ace, committed no double faults and converted five of seven break points. Putintseva is ranked 79th in the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) rankings, while Suhail is unranked.
Kazakhstan's No. 3 in women's singles, Sonya Ziyenbayeva, faced Hong Kong's Adithya Karunaratne in the first round. The Kazakh player is ranked 384th in the WTA rankings, while her opponent is 519th.
The match lasted a minimum two sets and ended in a 6-1, 7-5 win for Ziyenbayeva. The players spent 1 hour 40 minutes on court. During that time, the Kazakh player recorded no aces, committed four double faults and converted three of ten break points.
Ziyenbayeva's and Putintseva's second-round opponents will be determined later.