Four second-round matches will be played on Thursday at the WTA Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, Japan. Top seed Qinwen Zheng, will be in action against Japanese player, Moyuka Uchijima. As always, we here at LWOT will offer our predictions for every match on the slate for day 4. But who will advance to the quarterfinals?
WTA Tokyo Day 4 Predictions
Katie Boulter vs Kyoka Okamura
Head-to-Head: First meeting
Katie Boulter won her first-round match with ease thanks to a solid performance. Boulter hasn’t won consecutive matches since the start of August and has a great chance to do so against Kyoka Okamura, who has had quite an eventful week. Okamura lost to Hailey Baptiste in the second round of qualifying but got her revenge against her as a lucky loser in the first round of the main draw. That was the first tour-level win for the Japanese player and I don’t see her getting the second this week.
Prediction: Boulter in 2
Sofia Kenin vs Clara Tauson
Head-to-Head: Kenin 0-1 Tauson
Sofia Kenin played one of her best matches of the year in the first round to dispatch the in-form Xinyu Wang in straight sets. If Kenin can play like this more often she would be much higher in rankings. The American hasn’t won back-to-back matches since the French Open and that would be a big challenge alongside Clara Tauson, who has been in good touch on this surface. However, Tauson didn’t feel great on the court in the first round, which might hurt her chances if Kenin can find her rhythm again.
Prediction: Kenin in 3
Daria Kasatkina vs McCartney Kessler
Head-to-Head: First meeting
Last year’s quarterfinalist and #3 seed, Daria Kasatkina, will take the court for the first time this week. Fresh off a wonderful title win in Ningbo last week, Kasatkina will look to keep the momentum and make a deep run. McCartney Kessler has made impressive progress this year and is hitting her stride on the WTA Tour. She played impressively against Elisabetta Cocciaretto in the first round, breaking the Italian’s serve six times. However, Kasatkina will be a much tougher test and she will have to be solid throughout the match to win.
Prediction: Kasatkina in 3
Qinwen Zheng vs Moyuka Uchijima
Top seed and former runner-up Qinwen Zheng will start her campaign in Tokyo against Moyuka Uchijima. The Japanese player was involved in a wild first-round match against Mika Stojsavljevic. It was an extremely close match and could have gone either way but Uchijima played the bigger points better. Uchijima got her first match win in Tokyo but her level will need to increase drastically to challenge Zheng. I am picking the Chinese star to come through in straight sets,
Prediction: Zheng in 2
Main Photo Credit: Andrew P. Scott-USA TODAY Sports
