The Grand Slam season has ended for 2019, but, to the surprise of many casual fans, the tours themselves haven’t. This week the men head for Europe while the women get a jump on the Asian swing. While many of the ATP’s marquee players will gather in Geneva for the Laver Cup later in the week, two big names will be in action at tour stops in their home countries: US Open runner-up Daniil Medvedev headlines St. Petersburg, and Naomi Osaka does the same in Tokyo.
*Tokyo
$823,000; Premier
Hard court
Draw is here*
Some players can’t handle the pressure that comes with playing at home. That’s not true of Naomi Osaka. Two of her biggest titles, the 2018 US Open and BNP Paribas Open, came in the country where she lives, the United States. As for the country where she was born, Japan, Osaka has reached the final in Tokyo twice in the last four years—in 2016, she lost to Caroline Wozniacki; last year she lost to Karolina Pliskova.
Can Osaka take the final step in 2019? She could use a win. After failing to defend her US Open title—or even reach the quarters—she dropped from No. 1 to No. 4 in the world. The woman who beat her in Tokyo last year, Pliskova, isn’t in the draw this year, but the field is still strong. Kiki Bertens, Sloane Stephens, Angelique Kerber, Madison Keys and Petra Martic, who just reached a final this weekend, have all made the trip.
First-round matches to watch:
*St. Petersburg, Russia
$1,248,655; 250 level
Indoor hard court
Draw is here*
Daniil Medvedev, the game’s newest and perhaps least-likely-looking star, returns to Russia as a conquering hero—or almost a conquering hero. The US Open runner-up had a breakout summer that has left him at No. 4 in the world, behind only—you guessed it—Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.
Medvedev had to play a lot of tennis to get that ranking, but so far, every time we’ve expected him to collapse, he has kept plowing ahead and winning more matches instead. Will that continue in Russia, or will a hangover begin? Medvedev could play fellow Andrey Rublev in the third round; fellow US Open semifinalist Matteo Berrettini in the semis; and, if he makes it that far, another fellow Russian, Karen Khachanov, in the final.
Wild card to watch: Jannik Sinner. The young Italian with the Murray-esque starts against Mikhail Kukushkin
*Metz, France
$750,000; 250 level
Indoor hard court
Draw is here*
This small French tournament has drawn a highly French field: ten of the 28 players in the draw are locals—that includes the No. 3 and 4 seeds, Benoit Paire and Lucas Pouille, and two aging but still game Musketeers, Richard Gasquet and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The top seed, David Goffin, may technically be Belgian, but if anyone on tour qualifies as an honorary Frenchmen, it’s La Goff.
*Guangzhou, China
$500,000; International
Hard court
Draw is here*
Elina Svitolina missed a week or two earlier in the year with an injury, and she seems determined never to let it happen again. After reaching the US Open semis, she headed straight to Zhengzhou last week, where she lost to Yulia Putintseva in the round of 16. Now she’s the top seed in Guangzhou.
Also here: Qiang Wang, Sofia Kenin
*Seoul, Korea
$250,000; International
Hard court
Draw is here*
The WTA has a tournament in China and another in Japan this week. Why not one in Korea? Maria Sakkari is the top seed at this International-level event in Seoul. Of equal interest to many will be the fates of Wimbledon quarterfinalist Karolina Muchova, and brand-new-star at 27 Kristie Ahn, who is coming off a career-best round of 16 finish at the US Open.
