The 2024 Japan Open is the final WTA 500 tournament of the season, and the entry list has been released.
Billie Jean King, who will receive the Congressional Gold Medal for her contribution to tennis and public life, won the first iteration of the Japan Open in 1973. She overcame Nancy Richey in three sets.
For many years, the tournament was a WTA 1000 tournament. It currently has WTA 500 status, but it remains a valued event in the women's game, always attracting great players every year.
Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Lindsay Davenport, Maria Sharapova, Caroline Wozniacki, and Naomi Osaka have secured the title since its inception 51 years ago.
The 2024 Japan Open, sometimes known as the Pan Pacific Open for sponsorship reasons, has continued its track record of having superb entry lists filled with some of the best women's players in the sport.
An intriguing storyline at the 2024 Japan Open could be its role in determining who qualifies for the WTA Finals. Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka, who are in a race to finish the year at No. 1, are the only players to have booked their places in Riyadh.
Other players may have qualified for the WTA Finals by the time the event in Tokyo starts, depending on how they perform at the ongoing China Open and the subsequent Wuhan Open.
Jessica Pegula, the US Open runner-up, is the No. 1 seed at the Japan Open. She was also the runner-up at last year's tournament in Tokyo to Veronika Kudermetova, who is not on the entry due to her ranking but could receive a wild card.
Pegula is in a good position to qualify for the WTA Finals. However, she is defending several points in the coming weeks after being the runner-up in Tokyo.
Olympic gold medalist Qinwen Zheng is the No. 2 seed on the Japan Open entry list. Her gold medal and run to the Australian Open final at the start of the season mean 2024 has been a breakthrough year for the 21-year-old.
Unfortunately for Zheng, she received no ranking points for winning Olympic gold. That means she is currently two places and just over 500 points behind Emma Navarro in the final WTA Finals qualifying spot.
Zheng will hope the No. 3 seed Navarro exits in the early rounds of the Japan Open. The US Open semifinalist has played a substantial 72 matches this year but is yet to show signs of burnout.
Danielle Collins, the No. 4 seed at the 2024 Japan Open, is one place below Navarro in the race for the WTA Finals. Her chances of qualifying were hit by withdrawing from the China Open with an illness, but she will hope to still be in the race by the time the Japan Open is played.
The Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova is also on the entry list. She only needs to finish in the Top 20 to qualify for the WTA Finals after winning a Grand Slam, and the Czech is well placed to do that at her current spot of No. 10.
2024 Japan Open Tokyo WTA Players' Entry List:
| Seed | Player | Entry Ranking |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jessica Pegula | 3 |
| 2 | Qinwen Zheng | 7 |
| 3 | Emma Navarro | 8 |
| 4 | Danielle Collins | 9 |
| 5 | Barbora Krejcikova | 10 |
| 6 | Daria Kasatkina | 11 |
| 7 | Beatriz Haddad Maia | 12 |
| 8 | Anna Kalinskaya | 14 |
| Liudmila Samsonova | 15 | |
| Diana Shnaider | 16 | |
| Maria Sakkari | 17 | |
| Marta Kostyuk | 18 | |
| Paula Badosa | 19 | |
| Donna Vekic | 20 | |
| Mirra Andreeva | 22 | |
| Leylah Fernandez | 28 | |
| Elise Mertens | 29 |
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