Daria Kasatkina will take on Marta Kostyuk in the first round of the 2023 Japan Open in Tokyo, a WTA 500 event.
This is a rather interesting matchup that is very hard to predict, but we know there won't be any shaking hands. The Japanese crowd won't mind because they're not used it to anyway; however, they will mind if the match doesn't deliver good tennis.
It should be because it's a really fascinating matchup that we got, thanks to a competitive Japan Open draw. On one hand, we have Kostyuk, who loves to play attacking tennis and is very good at it, and then on the other side, we have Kasatkina, who knows a thing or two about all sorts of tennis styles.
She can attack and be defensive if she needs to, but her fighting spirit should frustrate Kostyuk quite a bit. Or so you'd think? Well, the H2H says something different.
We have had three matches so far on the WTA Tour, and Kostyuk leads it 2-1. She won their first two matches played in 2020, though the last one went to Kasatkina in 2021. A lot has changed since then as they both improved, particularly Kasatkina.
So what will happen here? That's a very good question and a bit tough to answer. We could see Kostyuk dominate the rallies and just blow Kasatkina off the court. The conditions should fit her style a bit better than that of Kasatkina, but we can't be sure of that simply because of the H2H.
Kasatkina improved quite a bit since they last played, and she's equipped to handle big hitters as Kostyuk. She's facing them daily so by now, she's gotten used to it. Neither looks in particularly great form so it's a tough call, but I'll take Kasatkina simply for being the better player overall.
Prediction: Daria Kasatkina to win in 3 sets.