“I should have lost five times,” said Tomic, who was down 3-6 in the final-set tiebreak. “In the second round in qualifying to Gerasimov, I was down 0-40 at 4-4 in the third set and I somehow got through that match; against Klahn in the first round I was down 7-6, 3-1 and in the second round I was down a match point as well against Harris. It’s been a rollercoaster, but I played more aggressive in the quarterfinals and semifinals. I don’t know how many match points I saved today.”

Gasparyan, who lost in the qualifying in her only two tour appearances at the end of 2017, improved to 3-1 in career finals, winning her first since 2015 Baku.

“Always waiting for this part of the season,” said Sabalenka of her love for the Asian swing. “I always want to be here…Probably they have to have more tournaments in China!”

Interesting starts for (17) Keys vs. American countrywoman (LL) Pera, the struggling (9) Stephens vs. Pavlyuchenkova, (3) Kerber vs. the unpredictable Mladenovic, (10) Goerges vs. Konta, (7) Pliskova vs. (WC) Stosur, (12) Ostapenko vs. Rybarikova, (14) Muguruza vs. Makarova, and (2) Wozniacki vs. Bencic…

A mine field of unseeded floaters as (7) Chung starts against Shapovalov (winner to meet the Wawrinka-Taylor Fritz winner), Simon vs. De Minaur with the winner to meet (3) Tsitsipas, and (8) Gasquet vs. Kyrgios 2nd rd…

In World Group Playoffs action past powerhouses Australia and Switzerland were upset, leaving their status in limbo as the ITF prepares to announce which teams will participate in next year’s restructured Davis Cup.

Stan Wawrinka takes a wildcard into St. Pete where as an unseeded player he is looking at a meeting with No. 4 Karen Khachanov in the second round.

Rising youngsters Stefanos Tsitsipas and former champ Lucas Pouille will contend, along with a few unseeded floaters giving the seeds some early challenges.

Two WTA tournaments this week produced two 30+ winners as Pauline Parmentier beat American qualifier Jessica Pegula 7-5, 6-2 for the title on Sunday at the Coupe Banque Nationale presentee par IGA in Quebec City, Canada.

32-year-old Hsieh Su-Wei stopped 17-year-old qualifier Amanda Anisimova from lifted her first career WTA title on Sunday in Japan, beating the American 6-2, 6-2 for her third career title at the Hana-Cupid Japan Women’s Open.

“This is going to sound really bad,” Osaka said on what she was thinking during the match, “but I was just thinking — I really wanted to play Serena. Because she’s Serena.”

“To break in both sets, having solid games there, was really important tonight,” Keys said afterwards.

“The crowd was really for me and I felt so bad that I wasn’t winning,” said Williams. “I said ‘I got to try even harder.'”

Maria Sharapova has been unable to find her mojo since returning from her doping ban for using a Russian super soldier serum in 2017.

“I feel like just getting through it in general was all I’m looking at now and not looking back and just moving towards the next match,” Williams said afterwards.