Tokyo R2: (8) Belinda Bencic vs Sam Stosur
Belinda Bencic and Sam Stosur will go head-to-head in an intriguing second round clash at the Toray Pan Pacific Open on Wednesday. The two came through very contrasting first round matches, Bencic stormed past Yi-Fan Xu whilst Stosur battled from a set down to defeat Alison Riske.
Belinda Bencic needed just 43 minutes to breeze past Chinese qualifier Yi-Fan Xu 6-0 6-0. It was the perfect start to the Asian swing for Bencic who played an extremely clean match, Bencic hit 21 winners whilst committing just 4 unforced errors. Bencic is a legitimate chance to reach her first career WTA Finals campaign, Bencic is currently ranked 12th on the road to Singapore and will need a couple of deep runs over the next couple weeks.
Sam Stosur made a wayward start to her Tokyo campaign, quickly conceding a big lead to Alison Riske in the first round. The Australian rebounded strongly, coming from a set down to claim a 4-6 6-1 6-3 victory over the American.
In the only previous meeting between the pair, Stosur prevailed 6-4 6-2 in Osaka in 2013. Bencic should have a great chance to turn that result around here. The Swiss rising star should actually match-up well against the Australian, Bencic’s solid flat groundstrokes can hurt Stosur. I expect Bencic to prevail here.
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