WTA Tokyo Tennis Preview – September 16th, 2018
The WTA is on its Asian swing of the season at the moment and there is some good action coming from Tokyo over the next week. This is a Premier level even on the WOmen’s Tour and it has attracted some big names as well. Heading into the action among the favourites is former winner Caroline Wozniacki and recent US Open winner Naomi Osaka.
WTA Tokyo Winner Odds*
Caroline Wozniacki 11/2
Naomi Osaka 11/2
Sloane Stephens 11/2
Karolina Pliskova 8/1
Garbiñe Mugartza 9/1
Caroline Garcia 12/1
Victoria Azarenka 12/1
Ashleigh Barty 14/1
Bar 25/1
* (betting odds taken from bet365 on September 16th, 2018 at 9:04 pm)
This has been Caroline Wozniacki’s tournament over the last couple of years as she has picked up back to back titles there. That naturally puts her in the front-runners circle because of that strong tournament history. She hasn’t particularly been carrying great form though and she fell in the second round at the US Open recently to the unseeded Lesia Tsurenko. She really hasn’t hit any form since Eastbourne back in the summer.
So Wozniacki is worth opposing at those short 11/2 odds* (betting odds taken from September 16th, 2018 at 9:04 pm). This will be such a big moment for Naomi Osaka who steps out for the first time after her Grand Slam success at Flushing Meadows. That pinnacle of her career has to have taken something out of her and it may be difficult to hit those levels again so soon, particularly because of emotions. So we are looking past her.
Sloane Stephens was playing some good stuff at Flushing Meadows but then just totally collapsed and lost all rhythm and mental focus in her quarter-final duel with Anastasija Sevastova. She is still at those 11/2 odds* (betting odds taken from September 16th, 2018 at 9:04 pm) though with the others, but we see her having a decent run.
Karolina Pliskova was looking somewhere near back to her best at Flushing Meadows but she still doesn’t quite look the powerful and confident version of herself that we saw last year. There are some other combative names in the field like Caroline Garcia, Victoria Azarenka, Dominika Cibulkova and Johanna Konta who are all about in the same boat looking for a good run to get a title under their belt and put some shine on their underwhelming seasons.
Prediction
We are going to drop down the field through to Garbine Muguruza at 9/1 odds* (betting odds taken from September 16th, 2018 at 9:04 pm) as the Spaniard did reach the semi-finals here last season before she was stopped by Caroline Wozniacki. She hasn’t been in great form and has had some illness and injury issues which has prevented her from hitting top levels. After all the pressure of the Grand Slams gone, she can be more relaxed here and have a good crack at a wide open tournament.
