Nikola Bartunkova has been speedrunning through the rankings, surging from outside the top 500 in June and cracking the top 150 in September. During this process, the 19-year-old won a couple of ITF titles on German clay courts and, more recently, reached her biggest professional final at the 125K Samsun event on Turkish hard courts.
In the middle of all the success, the Czech found time to make her introduction on the WTA Tour as she defeated Magdalena Frech and two other opponents in straight sets en route to the semifinal in Guadalajara in September. Having received a wildcard in Tokyo, she aims to score her fifth career win on tour and her first in Asia.
Wakane Sonobe is another teenage phenom who has been granted a wildcard for the Pan Pacific Open. The 17-year-old made a name for herself after becoming the top-ranked junior player in May, courtesy of her runner-up finish at the 2024 US Open and, more crucially, her triumph at the Australian Open in January.
The Japanese player made her tour-level main draw debut in Abu Dhabi after coming through qualifying and knocked out Yuan Yue, 6-4, 6-3, for a respectable second-round finish. Her second such appearance came in Osaka a few days ago, where she received a wildcard but was unable to trouble Naomi Osaka in the first round.
Head-to-head: 0-0. Nikola Bartunkova has won more than 50 matches across all levels this season and has not sustained a first-round loss in over five months. In this clash of teenagers, she will have the sizable advantage over local favorite Wakane Sonobe, who brilliantly claimed a W100 hard-court title in Tokyo earlier this season.
