World number 7 and 2024 Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen leads the the line-up at the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo which will be held at the Ariake Coliseum from Monday 21 October.
Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia and Daria Kasatkina rounded the top 3 seeds.
Zheng reached the final at the Australian Open and won the Olympic gold medal and the Palermo Ladies Open. She reached the semifinal at the China Open and her first WTA 1000 final at the Wuhan Open during a successful Asian Swing. The Chinese player has improved her ranking to world number 7 to secure the last qualifying spot for the WTA Finals.
Zheng reached the final in Tokyo on her tournament debut in 2022. She returns this year as the number 1 seed with a bye into the second round. She will take on either Moyuka Uchijima or Mika Stojsavljevic. Zheng could face 2021 US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez, who will start against Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic.
This year’s Guadalajara champion Magdalena Frech and Diana Schnaider lead the second quarter of the draw. Schnaider will face either defending champion Veronika Kudemertova or Viktoriya Tomova in the second round.
Daria Kasatkina will play for the second consecutive week after claiming the title at the Ningbo Open. Kasatkina will face either Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto or McCartney Kessler in the first round.
Number 2 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia leads the bottom half of the draw. The Brazilian player will face either Bianca Andreescu or a qualifier.
