Japan lost both opening-day singles matches against Ukraine in their best-of-five playoff tie of the Billie Jean King Cup women's tennis team competition Friday.
Marta Kostyuk defeated Misaki Doi 7-6(1), 6-4 before Katarina Zavatska followed with a 7-6(3), 6-2 victory over Moyuka Uchijima at Tokyo's Ariake Colosseum.
In the first match, Kostyuk clinched the only break of the second set to go up 5-4 and served out the match.
The left-handed Doi committed 31 unforced errors in the match against Kostyuk's 21.
"It's disappointing because I had chances in both sets," Doi said. "My opponent was better toward the end, at important points."
Second-match winner Zavatska took four straight points from 3-3 in the first-set tiebreak. She went on to end the match with a forehand volley into the open court.
Playoff winners will advance to the Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers in 2023, while losers will compete at their regional Group I events.
