After a thrilling week of tennis in Osaka, just two women remain in contention for the Pan Pacific Open title. Naomi Osaka, who is in her third Pan Pacific Open final, will aim for her first title after losing in 2016 to Caroline Wozniacki and in 2018 to Karolina Pliskova. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia, meanwhile, will be looking for her first title of the year.
Pan Pacific Open Final Prediction
Naomi Osaka vs Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
Head-to-head: Pavlyuchenkova 1-1 Osaka
The Australian Open champion has had a rough year after her victory in January. The Japanese had failed to reach another final this season and didn’t progress past the fourth round at Roland Garros, Wimbledon or the US Open. Nonetheless, she came to Osaka as the world #4 and the top seed. And aside from a poor first set against Viktoriya Tomova, she has been nothing short of excellent. In the quarterfinals and semifinals, both played on the same day, she defeated opponents she hadn’t been able to best before in Yulia Putintseva and Elise Mertens, both very solid baselines. Both were dismantled by Osaka’s relentless attack and variety.
Pavlyuchenkova plays a different game than the Japanese’s previous opponents. The Russian is a hard-hitting baseliner and has much more offensive potential than Putintseva or Mertens. Her season so far has been similar to Osaka’s, albeit with less significant success. She made a good start to the year at the Australian Open by reaching the quarterfinals, but failed to kick on thereafter with her run at the Pan Pacific Open her best effort since by some distance.
Osaka might have been great this tournament, but no one has been more impressive than Pavlyuchenkova. She stormed through Dayana Yastremska, Kiki Bertens, Misaki Doi and Angelique Kerber, not dropping a single set in the process. They played each other twice before. Pavlyuchenkova took the tour-level meeting in Hong Kong last year, while Osaka won a rubber at the 2018 Hopman Cup.
Osaka mentioned in an on-court interview that she’s really motivated to win here. Will that help her or keep her under pressure? Either way it is hard to look past Pavlyuchenkova, who has been the the more impressive player throughout the week. The Russian has had some great results on the Asian swing in the past and looks to be in with a good chance the 13th title of her career, although it looks set to be a close contest.
Prediction: Pavlyuchenkova in 3
Main photo:
Embed from Getty Images
