O'Brien is close to becoming the British number two

British number three Katie O'Brien celebrated her career-high ranking of 94 with victory over American Alexa Glatch at the Japan Open on Monday.

The Yorkshire player, from Hull, who has moved to 94 in the rankings after reaching the Tokyo ITF event semis, won 6-3 6-4 against the world number 111.

O'Brien will play top seed and US Open finalist Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in the second round on Thursday.

The world number five beat Japan's Ayumi Moriati 6-4 6-1 in round one.

"It's a really satisfying win, particularly because I lost to her last time," said O'Brien.

"It also makes up for some of the disappointment of losing such a close match last week.

606: DEBATE I think Katie just needs a win against a top player and her career will take off perfectOzBlue

"My opponent was tough to play against because she can be very flashy and didn't give me much rhythm.

"However, I stayed tough throughout the match and served well, which kept a lot of the pressure on her. I play the winner of Caroline Wozniacki and Ayumi Morita next.

"I'm really looking forward to it, especially if I play Wozniacki because she'll be the highest-ranked player I'll have played against and I'll have absolutely nothing to lose."

O'Brien broke into the world's top 100 for the first time earlier this month and is now just one place below British number two Elena Baltacha in the standings.

Anne Keothavong remains the British number one at 77 in the world but the Londoner has a long-term knee injury and is not expected to return to action until February.

A higher world ranking has allowed O'Brien to enter several WTA events this year alongside those on the second-tier ITF circuit, and the win over Glatch is her first at senior level since the US Open in August.

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