TOKYO — The draw is out for the Toray Pan Pacific Open, the final WTA 500 of the Hologic WTA Tour season.

World No.7 Zheng Qinwen tops the draw, with Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia, Daria Kasatkina and Anna Kalinskaya rounding out the Top 4 seeds. Defending champion Veronica Kudermetova is also set to return.

Main-draw play begins on Monday, Oct. 21 at Ariake Coliseum

Tokyo: Scores | Order of Play | Draws

Zheng returns to Tokyo fresh off her stellar run through the China swing, which included her first WTA 1000 semifinal at the China Open and first WTA 1000 final at the Dongfeng Voyah Wuhan Open. With that surge, the 22-year-old surged up the PIF Race to the WTA Finals Leaderboard to secure the final qualifying spot for the season-ending championships, a fitting end to a season which saw the Chinese star win Olympic gold and make her first Grand Slam final at the Australian Open. 

Zheng made the Tokyo final in her tournament debut in 2022. She returns this year as the No.1 seed with a bye into the second round, where she will face either Moyuka Uchijima or Mika Stojsavljevic. The first seeded player Zheng could face is No.8 seed Leylah Fernandez, who will open against Ajla Tomljanovic in the first round.

The second quarter is anchored by No.4 seed Anna Kalinskaya and No.7 seed and Guadalajara champion Magdalena Frech. Unseeded and looming in this section is defending champion Kudermetova, who will face Viktoriya Tomova in the first round. The winner will take on Kalinskaya. 

Diana Shnaider and Daria Kasatkina are the top seeds in the the third quarter of the draw. No.6 seed Shnaider is hoping to snap a three-match losing streak, having lost in the first round in Wuhan and Ningbo. She will face Sofia Kenin for the second time since the US Open. Shnaider bested the American in straight sets last month in Beijing. 

No.2 seed Haddad Maia tops a loaded fourth quarter of the draw. Along with No.5 seed Paula Badosa, this quarter includes 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu, China’s Wang Xinyu, and Katie Boulter. Badosa will open her tournament against Boulter. Haddad awaits the winner of Andreescu and Wang.