Sara Saito vs Sayaka Ishii Prediction & Betting Tips - WTA Japan Open

Prediction published on 21/10/2024, 08:02  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 23/10/2024 at 06:00 in Tennis Predictions

Two Japanese players face each other in round one of the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. Lucky loser Sara Saito takes on qualifier Sayaka Ishii for a place in round two against qualifier Zeynep Sonmez.

That means we'll definitely have an unseeded player in the last eight of this outdoor hard court tournament. Sara Saito didn't expect that to be possible after being beaten in her second qualifying round match and it was Sonmez who beat her in straight sets.

Saito is the world number 158 but up three places in the live list to a new career-high of 155th. The Japanese player reached the quarter-finals in her last tournament, a WTA 125 event held in Osaka and beat two top 65 ranked players.

Sayaka Ishii is at 279th in the latest ranking list. Reaching round one has taken the 19-year-old up to 267th and a win here will see Ishii beat her career-high of 262nd. The Japanese teenager won two qualifying matches to get into the main draw.

Her final qualifier was against Clara Tauson and she had to come from behind to win after losing the first set 6-1. Before this tournament she'd lost three straight matches. We tip Saito to get the win in this match.