With a place in the semi-finals of the Tokyo Open up for grabs, Diana Shnaider will face one of the surprise stories in Sayaka Ishii on Thursday.
In the round of 16, the sixth-ranked Russian got past Viktoriya Tomova 6-2 6-2, while Ishii came back to beat Zeynep Sonmez 4-6 6-2 6-3.
Match preview
© Imago
A run to the last eight of a WTA event is precisely what Diana Shnaider needed to re-instil some confidence in her game, and she had a dominant round of 16 affair.
The 20-year-old had a first serve percentage of 80% in her previous match while boasting a winning percentage of 65% on her first serve.
Her return game was also sharp throughout that match, with the Russian winning six of her nine break-point opportunities en route to victory.
On Thursday, she has a chance to make the semi-finals at a singles event on the hard court for the first time since the Hanna Bank Open last month when Daria Kasatkina beat her in the final four 3-6 4-6.
For the year, Shnaider has won 43.4% of her return points while managing to convert 46% of those opportunities and winning 35.4% of her return games.
She has been strong in the service department all year, winning over 70% (72.1%) of her service points in 2024 and 64.5% of her first serves.
© Imago
Resilience has been the name of the game for Sayaka Ishii at the Tokyo Open, and the Tokyo-born player displayed plenty of that once again in the last 16.
The local teenager has dropped the opening set in two of her last three matches but found a way back, including a three-set triumph over Clara Tauson in the qualifiers (1-6 7-5 7-5).
This upcoming match will be her first appearance in the quarter-finals of a WTA singles event since the ITF/Tennis Europe W50 in July, when she was beaten in the last eight by Heather Watson (3-6 1-6).
Not since the ITF/Tennis Europe W35 in Zaragoza has she made it beyond the quarter-finals of a singles tournament, defeating Lucia Cortez Llorca at this stage (6-3 6-1) before losing in the semis to Victoria Rodriguez (6-4 2-6 5-7).
Despite hitting nine double faults in her round of 16 encounter, the 19-year-old won 67% of her first serves and 46% of her second serves to take the match.
This year, Ishii has won 58.2% of her first serves and managed to win 55.4% of her service points, along with 62.5% of her service games.
Tournament so far
Diana Shnaider:
Round of 16: vs. Viktoriya Tomova 6-2 6-2
Sayaka Ishii:
Qualifier: vs. Sae Noguchi 6-2 6-2
Qualifier: vs. Clara Tauson 1-6 7-5 7-5
Round of 32: vs. Sara Saito 6-1 6-1
Round of 16: vs. Zeynep Sonmez 4-6 6-2 6-3
We say: Shnaider to win in two sets
Ishii has performed admirably thus far, but she will have difficulty against an opponent with much more power, precision and overall experience in these big matches.
Joel Lefevre
