Katie Boulter made a commendable effort by navigating through two rounds of qualifying to secure a place in the main draw at the WTA 500 Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. However, her run came to an abrupt end on Monday with a disappointing first-round loss against Eva Lys, the World No. 44, who defeated her in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1.
After Emma Raducanu withdrew from the tournament due to illness and a lower back injury sustained in Ningbo, Boulter became the sole British competitor in the main draw. Seeded eighth in the qualifying rounds, Boulter first overcame Anna Blinkova of Russia, clinching the match with scores of 6-1, 0-6, 6-2. She then fought hard to edge past Kimberly Birrell, winning a gripping three-set match 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(2) on Sunday.
Lys, who recently reached the quarter-finals at the China Open, controlled the match against Boulter, with the Brit only managing to win 50% of her first serve points and suffering five breaks of serve within just over an hour of play. This defeat marks a trend in Boulter’s season, where she has struggled to advance beyond the second round of any tournament since the Nottingham Open in June. Compounding her challenges, she had also been eliminated in straight sets by Sorana Cirstea, World No. 51, at the Japan Open just days prior.
In other tournament news, Jasmine Paolini, the top seed, withdrew from the Pan Pacific Open to focus on her campaign for the WTA Finals in Riyadh starting in November. Paolini has had a stellar season, which included her first title win at the Italian Open and now has two qualifications in singles and doubles for the WTA Finals. She is among a marquee group that includes Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Amanda Anisimova, Jessica Pegula, and Madison Keys.
The final spot for the WTA Finals remains contested, as Mirra Andreeva and Elena Rybakina vie for the last position. While Andreeva has opted out of competing this week, Rybakina, the second seed here in Tokyo and the winner of the Ningbo Open, has the opportunity to surpass Andreeva in points if she performs well.
On the courts in Tokyo, the tournament, which began in 1973, features a strong lineup of 28 singles players and 16 doubles teams competing for valuable ranking points and the prestigious title. Among the seeded players, Rybakina, Ekaterina Alexandrova, Clara Tauson, and Belinda Bencic received byes into the second round due to Paolini’s early exit.
During the first day of competition, the only seed in action, Karolina Muchova, progressed to the second round after Marketa Vondrousova retired while trailing 6-2, 1-0. Other noteworthy results included Maya Joint from Australia overcoming Viktorija Golubic, Anna Kalinskaya of Russia defeating Suzan Lamens, American McCartney Kessler edging past Cristina Bucsa, and Varvara Gracheva of France besting Wang Xinyu from China.
The Toray Pan Pacific Open continues to be one of the key events in the Asian Swing, offering players the chance to earn critical ranking points on the hard courts of Ariake Coliseum and Tennis Forest Park in Tokyo.
