ATP/WTA Previews: Kerber Leads Killer Field in Tokyo
MOSELLE OPEN
Metz, France; Surface: Indoor Hard
ADHEREL
Seeds: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gael Monfils, Philipp Kohlschreiber, Lukas Rosol, Jeremy Chardy, Joao Sousa, Jerzy Janowicz, David Goffin
Floaters: Gilles Muller, (WC) Nicolas Mahut
Notes: Potential tough starts for (1) Tsonga after a bye vs. the power-serving upset-specialist Muller, and (5) Chardy, who has never won a match in Metz in two attempts, vs. countryman (WC) Mahut…Wildcards went to France’s Laurent Lokoli, Mahut, and Paul-Henri Mathieu…Notable withdrawals from the event were Gilles Simon (wrist) and Stan Wawrinka (fatugue)…Simon beat Tsonga in last year’s all-French final…Former champs in the field are Tsonga (2012-11) and Monfils (2010).
TOKYO PAN PACIFIC OPEN
Tokyo, Japan; Surface: hard
Seeds: Angie Kerber, Caroline Wozniacki, Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic, Sara Errani, Dominika Cibulkova, Lucie Safarova, Carla Suarez Navarro
Floaters: Kirsten Flipkens, Victoria Azarenka
Notes: Three Top 10 seeds, and all seeds in the Top 20…Tough starts for the struggling (6) Cibulkova vs. Flipkens, and (3) Ivanovic after a bye vs. Azarenka…Four former No. 1 players in the field…Wildcards went to Swiss Belinda Bencic, Japan’s Kimiko Date-Krumm, and German Sabine Lisicki…Pulling from the event were Camila Giorgi, Flavia Pennetta and Andrea Petkovic…Petra Kvitova beat Kerber in last year’s final…Wozniacki (2010) is the lone former champ in the field.
KIA KOREA OPEN
Seoul, Korea; Surface: hard
Seeds: Aggie Radwanska, Karol�na Pliskova, Klara Koukalova, Magdalena Rybarikova, Varvara Lepchenko, Kaia Kanepi, Caroline Garcia, Heather Watson
Floaters: Francesca Schiavone
Notes: (4) Rybarikova opens against the former Slam champ Schiavone…Wildcards went to Koreans Jang Su-jeong and Han Na-lae, and Russian Maria Kirilenko…Radwanska beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in last year’s final…Returning former champs in the field are Radwanska (2013) and Kirilenko (2008).
GUANGZHOU INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S OPEN 2014
Guangzhou, China; Surface: hard
Seeds: Sam Stosur, Alize Cornet, Sloane Stephens, Bojana Jovanovski, Zarina Diyas, Roberta Vinci, Jana Cepelova, Annika Beck
Floaters: none
Notes: Wildcards went to Chinese Taipei’s Hsieh Su-wei, and China’s Wang Yafan and Zhu Lin…Pulling from the event were American Vania King and China’s Peng Shuai and Zhang Shuai…Shuai beat King in last year’s final…Former champs in the field are Su-wei (2012) and Shahar Peer (2009).
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