Natsuki Nidaira broke the heart of home fans as she held off a late surge from Beiwen Zhang to save match point and win a thrilling women’s singles final at the YONEX US Open 2024.

Nidaira’s was Japan’s third title of the day after Rin Iwanaga/Kie Nakanishi in women’s doubles and Yushi Tanaka in men’s singles.

It was Tanaka’s second Super 300 title after the Orleans Masters earlier this year, while Iwanaga/Nakanishi claimed their third title this season after the Spain Masters and Malaysia Masters.

World No.38 Nidaira led Zhang 18-14 in the third but the USA player fought back with four straight points, and even had match point at 20-19. However, the Japanese kept her nerve to emerge victorious 17-21 21-18 24-22 to claim her first title of the year.

The remaining two titles went to Thailand, with Pakkapon Teeraratsakul starring in both. World No.38 Teeraratsakul and Peeratchai Sukphun, who have been in two previous finals this year, won their season’s first title beating Chinese Taipei’s Liu Kuang Heng/Yang Po Han, 13-21 21-16 21-11.

“The game was fast and the first game we were nervous because this is only our second final, but we adjusted and could recover,” said Teeraratsakul.

“Despite the pressure we could come back and keep our focus. We are happy with the result and we want to keep going and get to a higher level.”

Teeraratsakul returned for the mixed doubles with Phataimas Muenwong and the world No.42 claimed their first HSBC BWF World Tour title beating Denmark’s Jesper Toft/Amalie Magelund 15-21 21-19 21-13.

“I’m exhausted with my two matches, but I tried to push through and it came out very well,” said Teeraratsakul. “I’m very happy because this is our first World Tour Super 300 title together.”

WHAT OTHERS SAID

“The first game was OK, we followed the plan and we were in control. In the second game, my movement and shot choice wasn’t right. We felt the pressure a lot. This is our second tournament together.” – Jesper Toft

“I just kept talking to myself, but I made so many unforced errors. Playing in front of the home court is a lot of pressure, because everyone is telling me they wanted to see me win. I feel these kind of close matches you never know who’s going to win.” – Beiwen Zhang

“The second game when I was chasing him, that was an important phase. My attack helped me gain the advantage. I need to be more decisive in attack and my defence and power need more work as well.” – Lei Lan Xi, who lost to Tanaka in the men’s singles final

→Results