Moyuka Uchijima was on a ten-match losing streak earlier this season, spanning from 125K Paris in May to Cleveland in August. While she reached the clay-court quarterfinals in Rouen and Madrid — and rose as high as No. 47 in the rankings — her trouble in establishing herself as a reliable player on tour remains a concern.
The Japanese player has exclusively sustained first- or second-round losses in every tournament since that week in Madrid in April, when she beat Jessica Pegula and Ons Jabeur. This is going to be her third main-draw appearance at the Pan Pacific Open, having gone as far as the second round in 2024 (l. Zheng Qinwen).
Sofia Kenin has not won a WTA title since the pandemic five and a half years ago. However, the former Australian Open champion has given herself multiple chances in the last couple of years, including in Tokyo. In October 2024, she defeated Clara Tauson, Daria Kasatkina and Katie Boulter to surge into the final in the Japanese capital.
Her bid for the WTA 500 title in Tokyo was denied by Zheng Qinwen after a close straight-set contest. A year later, the former world No. 4 won’t be feeling entirely confident upon her return to the tournament, primarily after failing to win back-to-back matches at any level since qualifying for Eastbourne four months ago.
Head-to-head: Sofia Kenin leads 1-0. Both players were ranked outside the top 100 during their qualifying encounter at Wimbledon in the summer of 2023; in fact, Moyuka Uchijima was yet to debut in the top 100. The American was searching for her form — not dissimilar to her current state of affairs — and ended up prevailing 6-0, 6-3 in just 49 minutes.
