Charlotte Lutz vs Hitomi Sato | WS R32 | #WTTSaoJose 2026

so high thrown backhand serve and very heavy backspin but mixed up i thought it was a float ball or empty spin but actually it's heavy backspin that's the in the world charlotte dealing very well charlotte facing the number four seed that was a fence and it's very very hard to win with so your perception skills have to be so good so consistent at sato at her arm and playing arm at her bats and at the ball and how it's bouncing even down to watching the print on the ball i'll look at that chopper from the forehand side yes well played charlotte there backhand serve from the backhand corner yes well played charlotte six nine she'll do well to get back into this and it's easier for us here than it is for charlotte who's having to run around and be standing so close to her opponent yeah and there it is first game 11-6 superb rally guys sato's receiving charlotte deals with the attack you can see it on court and on paper played in the feeder in cappadocia and won the whole tournament hitomi sato i love charlotte smashes oh great block great attack without that top spin into the air you can see the power that the players are putting into the ball oh what a rally best rally of the day i believe oh lovely smash 28 years of age prime of her career charlotte maybe with improvement to come 21 years a little bit at the table great ball into the body and wide well played charlotte can she convert it oh finds a way through i was about to say there's just no way through sato but in the end there was charlotte get present again go for the next one oh the attack from sato oh and she serves off but then a little walk around and she's got to be positive for the next and she is positive but no sato smashes the ball which gives the favorite and the number four seed are two games to love advantage claire picard of france versus sreeja akula of india who seeded 15 lucky ball off the net it really exudes from her she's got an aura of that she's not going to be intimidated no matter what yes i'm sure that won't last long she'll be back to full business but charlotte is playing well except that one yeah but only 18 16 in the seventh against kwai man of china so sato fantastic form so sato serving and behind a point back to the graft oh fantastic rally off the net for charlotte rally continues off the net and off the end amazing oh hitomi sato is in so much oh and it's off the end they're clever clever float one game point left oh smash sato spins the forehand up slowly oh and look at that backhand see how wide she played it and a little flick of the wrist to get the top spin made the ball hit the table certainly can be oh top edge ball won't come down she's in control match point against the french oh superb into the space on the start around the forehand corner side spin oh and the missed push from hitomi it was high enough and charlotte knew it and she delivered that one beautifully down the line superb work from charlotte lutz of france you see this ball in this match she has done oh that was wonderful to be honest i thought that last shot she played might be a little bit low but yeah you can see the optimism in the french cat heiji rally the timeout has recomposes dances her way into the next rally are delivered very very well until the sato loop the well-played hitomi sato to go ahead in the second half of this fourth game match point yes charlotte looks ranked so far behind in the world 40 places behind credit to a japanese superstar of footwork and deception and there it is three games to one a deserved victory for hitomi sato a very very proud effort from charlotte