After taking a breath in the week following the US Open, tennis is back in full force this week with four tournaments across WTA and ATP tennis.
The biggest of these is happening in Tokyo, the Toray Pan Pacific Open WTA500 tournament. Carrying almost 50 years of history, and occurring for the first time since 2019 due to Covid, the Toray Pan Pacific Open is one of Asia’s premier tennis events. The tournament will see several of the world’s Top 10 competing alongside some other familiar names in women’s tennis.
Bookmaker William Hill has the odds ahead of tomorrow’s play as we preview the favourites heading into this week’s event.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: September 18th, 4:00 P.M. (EST)
In a field that features four major champions, there is unsurprisingly no clear favourite.
World No. 10 Caroline Garcia has her nose ahead of the pack with odds of 6.00 for the French-native to win the Toray Pan Pacific Open. Having already won three singles titles this year and cracked the Top 10, Garcia is emulating the form of 2018 that saw her reach a career high of world No. 4. Expect the 28-year-old to have a good run in this tournament, having made it to the semi-finals of the US Open ten days ago.
Behind Garcia, seven women sit on odds between 8.50 and 10.00, indicating just how tight this field is.
Three players are neck-and-neck as second equal favourites with Beatriz Haddad Maia, Naomi Osaka and Elena Rybakina all on odds of 8.50.
Naomi Osaka is the defending champion from 2019, and although her form has dropped off significantly since then, she will always be a threat playing at home. Both Haddad Maia and Rybakina will be eager for a strong tournament after each were ousted from the US Open earlier than they would have liked. These two especially have been in some of the best form of their careers this season.
Interestingly, the world No. 4 and and No. 1 seed Paula Badosa is down in the odds with her sitting in fifth equal at 9.00. She also will be looking for a result here having exited the US Open in the second round.
Looking at the draw, the top four seeds get a bye straight into the Round of 16.
A big Round of 16 match looming is Beatriz Haddad Maia, the in-form Brazilian who managed to beat Iga Swiatek recently, against Naomi Osaka, defending champion and home favourite. The winner would likely go on to play fourth seed Veronika Kudermetova in a quarter-final.
The top half of the draw is definitely the toughest with the No. 1 seed having to contend with unseeded players such as Naomi Osaka as well as in-form Haddad Maia. Osaka is a good bet here to rise in front of a supportive crowd and with a 9.00 return is worth a punt.
Projected Semi-Finals:
Paula Badosa vs. Veronika Kudermetova
Garbine Muguruza vs. Caroline Garcia
Projected Final:
Paula Badosa vs. Caroline Garcia
Predicted winner:
Caroline Garcia
