Iga Swiatek and Jessica Pegula return to action and lead a loaded field at the Toray Pan Pacific Open, which begins on Monday. The draw features four Top 10 players, including Guadalajara finalist Maria Sakkari, semifinalist Caroline Garcia, and World No.5 Elena Rybakina.
Tokyo: Draws | Scores | Schedule
The top four seeds are Swiatek, Pegula, Rybakina, and Sakkari. In addition to the top two seeds, this year, Tokyo will be trialing performance byes allocated to players who have entered the tournament and made the semifinal stage in Guadalajara. Two performance byes were given to Sakkari and Garcia.
As the top two seeds, Swiatek and Pegula received standard byes into the second round.
Dates, prize money and everything you need to know about Tokyo
Main draw in Tokyo (WTA 500), where Iga Swiatek, Jessica Pegula, Elena Rybakina and Maria Sakkari are the top seeds.
— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) September 23, 2023
Tokyo is trialing performance byes. Two were allocated to Guadalajara semifinalists Caroline Garcia and Maria Sakkari, after their seeded positions were drawn. pic.twitter.com/FvwjSM96tM
World No.2 Swiatek is making her tournament debut in Tokyo and playing her first event since losing the No.1 ranking after the US Open. She will open her tournament against either Nao Hibino or a qualifier.
Swiatek leads the top half of the draw, which includes No.3 seed Rybakina and defending champion Liudmila Samsonova. Rybakina opens against Linda Noskova in the first round.
Update: Rybakina withdrew from the tournament due to illness.
Swiatek, Rybakina secure qualification for WTA Finals
Like Swiatek, Pegula is also playing her first tournament since the US Open. She anchors the bottom half of the draw along with No.4 seed Sakkari, No.5 Garcia, and No.6 Kasatkina. Pegula will face either Cristina Bucsa or a qualifier in her opening round.
Garcia will open against either Osaka champion Ashlyn Krueger or Ukraine's Anhelina Kalinina.
Sakkari, who is still in Guadalajara after making her second final of the season, will play either Petra Martic or a qualifier in the second round.
In addition to the WTA 500 in Tokyo, the Ningbo Open will also be played next week. The WTA 250 has given a wild card to Ons Jabeur, who will now lead the field there. Jabeur is the top seed, with Petra Kvitova seeded second.
Main draw in Ningbo (WTA 250), where Ons Jabeur has received a wildcard and is the top seed, with Petra Kvitova seeded second. pic.twitter.com/DtixHX7JFg
— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) September 23, 2023