Some of the first round action at the 2023 WTA Tokyo Open will see seventh seed Liudmila Samsonova of Russia meet Germany’s Tatjana Maria and world no. 87 Cristina Bucsa of Spain take on world no. 353 Rina Saigo of Japan. Get the live streaming options along the predictions, preview and head to head for these matches along with Nao Hibino v Mai Hontama and Kayla Day v Moyuka Uchijima.
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Liudmila Samsonova v Tatjana Maria Preview & Prediction
World no. 17 Liudmila Samsonova of Russia will meet world no. 48 Tatjana Maria in the first round of the Tokyo Open.
Last year, Samsonova had gone on to win the title by beating Qinwen Zheng in the final. The four-time tour level winner comes into the tournament with a 26-20 season record. She was in great form during the North American swing, reaching the semifinals in Washington, final in Montreal and finishing in the third round at the US Open.
Samsonova also reached the final in Abu Dhabi earlier this year. Can she make a solid start in the first round?
She has a 1-0 head to head lead over Tatjana Maria, who is 47-28 across levels this year.
The German won the Bogota Open title this year to claim a third WTA title. She was a quarterfinalist in Guangzhou last week and will be hoping to make a winning start.
Liudmila Samsonova v Tatjana Maria Tip
Defending champion Samsonova is in outstanding form. Expect her to win.
Samsonnova to win: 1/2 (bet365)
Cristina Bucsa v Rina Saigo Preview & Prediction
World no. 87 Cristina Bucsa will meet qualifier Rina Saigo in the opening round.
Bucsa is 25-24 across levels. Her best at the tour level this year was a third round finish at the Australian Open. However, overall, her best was a semifinal finish in WTA 125 in Chicago.
Most recently, she is coming off a second round finish in Guadalajara 2.
Taking on the Spaniard will be world no. 353 Saigo, who qualified for the main draw with back to back straight set wins. She beat Giuliana Olmos 7-6, 6-3 in the first qualifying round and Sakura Hosogi 6-1, 6-3 in the second qualifying round.
Overall the Japanese is 18-21 across levels this year, having only played in ITF tournaments.
Cristina Bucsa v Rina Saigo Tip
Bucsa is the more experienced player and expected to sail through. The Spaniard to win in straight sets: 1/5 (bet365)
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Nao Hibino v Mai Hontama Preview & Prediction
World no. 92 Nao Hibino will play world no. 143 Mai Hontama in an all-Japanese opening round contest.
Hibino is coming into the tournament on the back of four consecutive defeats across levels. Most recently, she went down in the first round in Osaka last week.
The 28-year-old is 35-25 across levels. She won her third WTA title, when she ended a four-year title drought by winning the Prague Open in August. It will be her second appearance in the Tokyo Open and she is expected to win her first match in the tournament after she made a first round debut on her tournament debut in 2018.
She has never met Hontama before. The latter qualified for the main draw with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Saki Imamura and a 6-2, 6-2 win over Sara Saito in the first and second qualifying rounds respectively.
Hontama is 41-20 across levels and is in fine form after a semifinal finish at the WTA 250 in Osaka last week. Can Hontama pull off a surprise win over her compatriot?
Nao Hibino v Mai Hontama Tip
Hibino is the more experience player at this level and has enjoyed a good season. So even if Hontama’s recent form is better than Hibino, it’s the senior pro who holds the edge.
Hibino to win: 4/6 (bet365)
Kayla Day v Moyuka Uchijima Preview & Prediction
World no. 96 Kayla Day will meet world no. 173 Moyuka Uchijima in the first round on Monday.
They both have a 1-1 record from their past meetings. Both the meetings took place last year with Uchijima winning in Canberra 3 and Day winning in Concord 125.
The 23-year-old Day is 33-20 across levels this year. She won two ITF titles this year in Bonita Springs and Granby and had made it to the third round of the French Open on her Roland Garros debut.
She has struggled in recent times, but will be hoping to find form in Tokyo.
Uchijima, meanwhile, has won the opening round matches in the last two tournaments. She was also a semifinalist in the WTA 125 in Stanford recently. Overall, the Japanese is 27-28 across levels this year and she is expected to give Dya a tough fight.
Kayla Day v Moyuka Uchijima Tip
This is going to be a close contest and could go the distance. Three sets in the match: 4/5 (bet365)
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The 2023 Pan Pacific Tokyo Open will be played from September 25 to October 1. You can watch & bet on the these matches here. Get your latest premium tennis predictions here.
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