Premier 5: Toray Pan Pacific Open, WTA Tokyo 2013

[ozza]

The premier 5 in Tokyo begins on Sunday.

Noticeable absentee's are Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Na Li and defending champion Nadia Petrova.

The seeds:
#1 Victoria Azarenka
#2 Agnieszka Radwanska
#3 Sara Errani
#4 Caroline Wozniacki
#5 Angelique Kerber
#6 Jelena Jankovic
#7 Petra Kvitova
#8 Roberta Vinci
#9 Sloane Stephens
#10 Carla Suarez Navarro
#11 Ana Ivanovic
#12 Samantha Stosur
#13 Simona Halep
#14 Kirsten Flipkens
#15 Sorana Cirstea
#16 Dominika Cibulkova

The draw:
[1] Azarenka v BYE
Barthel v V.Williams
Petkovic v Vesnina
Pavlyuchenkova v [13] Halep

[9] Stephens v Voegele
Bouchard v Puig
Morita v Robson
BYE v [6] Jankovic

[3] Errani v BYE
Kuznetsova v Q
[WC] Doi v Lepchenko
Goerges v [15] Cirstea

[10] Suarez Navarro v Keys
Peng v Q
[WC] Bencic v Q
BYE v [7] Kvitova


[8] Vinci v BYE
Q v Safarova
Q v Date-Krumm
Cornet v [12] Stosur

[14] Flipkens v Q
Rybarikova v Hsieh
Pennetta v Hantuchova
BYE v [4] Wozniacki

[5] Kerber v BYE
Q v Zakopalova
Svitolina v [WC] Nara
Beck v [11] Ivanovic

[16] Cibulkova v U.Radwanska
Mladenovic v Q
Wozniak v Schiavone
BYE v [2] A.Radwanska

http://www.toray-ppo.co.jp/tournament/pdf/20130921MDS.pdf

Defending champion is Nadia Petrova.

 

[ozza]

Maria Kirilenko withdrew, and with Ekaterina Makarova already out I think Sorana Cirstea will now be the #16 seed.

 

[Correspondent Kiu]

Thanks for starting this thread.

It's worth mentioning that Petrova beat Aggie in the finals last year, so Aggie is defending finalist points here(620).

Event web-site here:
http://www.toray-ppo.co.jp/

 

[ozza]

Sabine Lisicki has withdrawn. Updated the seeds.

 

[ozza]

Edited the draw into first post. PDF form here: http://www.toray-ppo.co.jp/tournament/pdf/20130921MDS.pdf

 

[Correspondent Kiu]

Top 8 seeds get first round bye.

If I remember correctly, the finalists her get bye next week too.

Saturday's order of play here:
http://www.wtatennis.com/SEWTATour-Archive/posting/2013/1056/OP.pdf

 

[ozza]

^The 4 semi-finalists get a bye in Beijing.

 

[August]

The last edition of this tournament on P5 level. Actually shows well the development of the WTA calendar. First in Tokyo from indoor carpet to outdoor HC. And now will be replaced by China's Wuhan. I'd still prefer an indoor event in Tokyo.

With Serena away, seems like Vika's title to lose.

 

[ozza]

Sunday order of play:

http://www.wtatennis.com/SEWTATour-Archive/posting/2013/1056/OP.pdf

 

[Hoergren]

Again a tournament where Caroline has other things to do eg in connection with her major contract with Addidas:

See more pictures here - also text but it's more problematic - if you're not Japanese

Cariline in Addidas store in Tokyo

 

[Calvy]

Does anyone believe it's gonna be anyone other than either Vika or Aggie, just maybe Petra will have a spirited run.

 

[Correspondent Kiu]

I haven't voted.
Look who won last year Calvy, this is the kinda event that no one knows what's going to happen.

I am hoping for Jelena!

 

[Calvy]

I haven't voted.
Look who won last year Calvy, this is the kinda event that no one knows what's going to happen.

I am hoping for Jelena!

Did Serena, Vika or Maria play this event last year?

Jelena can't beat Vika, and Radwanska is better version of JJ at this point.

 

[Correspondent Kiu]

Did Serena, Vika or Maria play this event last year?

....

Vika lost to Kerbie last year, Masha lost to Slammin Sammy.
No Serena did not play but when was last time she went to Asia?

Lets not forget between this week and next, there is 1900 points to go around, that's not chump change folks, Caro became #1 in 2010 on the strength of winning these two events back to back.

 

[ozza]

Did Serena, Vika or Maria play this event last year?

....

Vika lost to Kerbie last year, Masha lost to Slammin Sammy.
No Serena did not play but when was last time she went to Asia?

Lets not forget between this week and next, there is 1900 points to go around, that's not chump change folks, Caro became #1 in 2010 on the strength of winning these two events back to back.

Azarenka didn't lose to Kerber. She withdrew with illness from the Vinci match. She never took to the court.

 

[Correspondent Kiu]

I always count those as a loss!
My bad.

The point was that she did play last year, Calvy made it sound like no one goes to play in Asia...


Anyway,
it's 11:00 am in Asia, Sorana and Julia just started their match.
We have some good matches set for today, Venus gets Mona in the 3rd match, U-Rad faces Dominika after that.
Then there is Sloane, Svetlana, Samantha and more!

Lets go ladies, time to work!

 

[Calvy]

Well, the chance of someone outside of the top 3 winning when at least one top the top 3 are playing is not unlikely.

It's only happened twice this year.

 

[tented]

Does anyone believe it's gonna be anyone other than either Vika or Aggie, just maybe Petra will have a spirited run.

No. I'm hoping it will be Aga, but it will probably be Vika. Definitely not Errani.


Thanks for the thread, Ozza. Very helpful that you also included the draw.

 

[Hoergren]

Nice to see a tournament streaming TV from day one - American tournaments could learn a lot from Asia. 9 matches from Tokyo today. Use eventually http://www.streamhunter.eu/tennis-live-streaming-video.html if you want to see a good match :heart:

And of course I hope this stunning babe is winning

 

[Correspondent Kiu]

Venus in tight form as she beats Mona easily in 2 sets. Venus vs. Vika on the horizon...
Multi-slam champion versus two time Aussie Open Champion, this should be good.

Sloane won in straights too.