Ninth seed Katie Boulter will face former junior rival Priscilla Hon, whom she has never beaten in three meetings, on Tuesday at the WTA Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. We predict all of the day’s matches, including three in a separate article–featuring Sofia Kenin vs Wang Xinyu. So, who do you think will progress?
WTA Tokyo Day 2 Predictions
Elisabetta Cocciaretto vs McCartney Kessler
Head-to-head: Cocciaretto 1-0 Kessler
Cocciaretto won the pair’s solitary meeting en route to the title at the Charleston 125K earlier this season. It was on a hard court. So that should be a good barometer of what to expect here. The Italian is a smart tactician on the court and bides her time to create the perfect point. Against powerful players, Cocciaretto plays second fiddle, but not in this matchup against Kessler, who, in truth, has gone off the boil since that maiden title success in Cleveland.
Prediction: Cocciaretto in 3
Sara Saito vs Sayaka Ishii
Head-to-head: first meeting
Ishii caused quite the shock in qualifying after producing a miraculous comeback against Clara Tauson from 1-6 1-3 down. She will be chasing her maiden WTA main draw win, which could boost her ranking (she will break the Top 250 with a win). But playing a fellow compatriot can add a bit of pressure, especially with Sara Saito coming from a quarterfinal run in Osaka, where she beat Bouzas Maneiro and Elina Avanesyan. It’s a real toss of the coin, but the higher-ranked Saito has shown a lot of promise recently.
Prediction: Saito in 3
Moyuka Uchijima vs Mika Stojsavljevic
Head-to-head: first meeting
Stojsavljevic’s US Open junior title in September convinced the Pan Pacific Open organizers to grant her a main draw wild card. She doesn’t turn 16 until December and has a current junior ranking of No. 8. The British youngster has won one W25 ITF title. She has competed in two qualifying matches on the WTA Tour and lost both. Uchijima played at a decent level in her most recent loss to Marie Bouzkova in Osaka. It’s not the most daunting first-round match for the teenager, but it’s still too steep of a challenge for her to navigate at this stage of her career. Uchijima’s wait for that elusive win in Tokyo is bound to end here.
Prediction: Uchijima in 2
Katie Boulter vs Priscilla Hon
Head-to-head: first meeting
This will be the first Tour-level meeting between Boulter and Hon, but the Australian has a commanding winning recording from the ITF circuit with three wins. Boutler has since come a long way, establishing herself as one of the WTA’s most improved players this season. Consistency continues to be the Briton’s major drawback, but this is a match where her shot quality will hurt Hon.
Prediction: Boulter in 2
Main Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
