The first tournament of the WTA Asian swing in Japan is the Japan Championships, and the draw has been released.
First held in 2009, Samantha Stosur won the first iteration of the tournament, overcoming Francesca Schiavone. The 2011 US Open champion went on to secure the title two more times in 2013 and 2014.
The event has changed locations a few times throughout its history. It began in Osaka from 2009 to 2014, moved to Tokyo from 2015 to 2017, played in Hiroshima in 2018 and 2019, and returned to Osaka in 2023.
After not being played from 2020-2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a financial crisis in 2022, the WTA-250 tournament returned last year. Ashlyn Krueger won her maiden WTA Tour title in Osaka last year.
The 2024 Japan Championships will be played in Osaka again this year next week. Unsurprisingly, the draw is not as strong as the WTA-500 tournament being played in Ningbo during the same week, but there are still many great players in the draw in Japan.
Magdalena Frech is the No. 1 seed at the 2024 Japan Championships. The Pole has enjoyed the most successful season of her career, most notably winning last month's Guadalajara Open.
Frech's other achievements include reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open and finishing runner-up on clay at the Prague Open in July to her compatriot Magda Linette.
The top seed at this year's Japan Championships has a tough opening-round match against the gritty and determined Camila Osorio, who always fights to the end and makes her opponents work hard to beat her.
It is possible for the American to reach a quarterfinal against the 2020 Australian Open champion, Sofia Kenin. The American needs to beat Aoi Ito in the first round and possibly the No. 8 seed in Osaka, Elisabetta Cocciaretto, in the round of 16.
Elise Mertens is the highest seed in the other quarter and is in the top half of the draw. The experienced Belgian might play the defending champion Krueger in the quarterfinal, who starts her campaign against Elina Avanesyan.
Leylah Fernandez, whose father clashed with Qinwen Zheng in Wuhan, was set to be the No. 2 seed at the 2024 Japan Championships, but the 2021 US Open runner-up pulled out of the tournament in what was a blow to the tournament due to her.
As a result, Katie Volynets, who played Naomi Osaka at the China Open, took that spot in the bottom half of the draw. The American starts her campaign against Clara Tauson, who she played at the Thailand Open in Hua Hin last month.
Bianca Andreescu is also in that quarter of the draw. The 2019 US Open winner will battle Greet Minnen before a second-round match against Diane Parry and Erika Andreeva, who defeated her sister Mirra in Wuhan last week.
The Canadian has not played a match since the US Open. Her best level is still among the best on the WTA Tour, meaning she is always among the players who could win the title.
Marie Bouzkova is the highest-ranked seed in the other quarter in the bottom half. Veronika Kudermetova and Ana Bogdan are among the other players in that quarter.
| Player 1 | Player 2 |
|---|---|
| Magdalena Frech [1] | Camila Osorio |
| McCartney Kessler | Ena Shibahara |
| Sofia Kenin | Aoi Ito |
| Jesika Ponchet | Elisabetta Cocciaretto [8] |
| Elise Mertens [3] | Mai Hontama |
| Kimberly Birrell | Saisai Zheng |
| Jessica Bouzas Maneiro | Sara Saito |
| Ashlyn Krueger | Elina Avanesyan [5] |
| Viktoriya Tomova [6] | Suzann Lamens |
| Lucia Bronzetti | Cristina Bucsa |
| Ana Bogdan | Veronika Kudermetova |
| Moyuka Uchijima | Marie Bouzkova [4] |
| Diane Parry [7] | Erika Andreeva |
| Bianca Andreescu | Greet Minnen |
| Laura Siegemund | Harriet Dart |
| Clara Tauson | Katie Volynets |