order of play–

A relatively weak No. 2 seed and two qualifiers stand in the way of 36-year-old wild card Zhang Shuai winning a title in her home country.

What a great story that would be for Zhang, who ended up being a constant road warrior for several years because of the pandemic, and being unable to get back home. So much so that she went on a horrific losing streak that would probably have sent a less-strong player than she into retirement.

In Tokyo, two good semifinal matches featuring seeded players.

And it will be interesting to see if the best of them, No. 2 Elena Rybakina, still has the fire in her belly to win the tournament after officially qualifying for the WTA Finals on Friday.

(Tokyo is 13 hours ahead of EDT, Guangzhou is 12 hours ahead)

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Toray Pan Pacific Open
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Surface: Hard
Category: WTA 500
Dates: Oct. 20 – 26, 2025
Prize money: $1,064,510
Draws: S28 – D16

Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025
Order of play

–

Center Court (Noon start – 11 p.m. Friday EDT)

1. [2] Elena Rybakina (KAZ) vs [6] Linda Noskova (CZE) 

2. [5] Belinda Bencic (SUI) vs [10] Sofia Kenin (USA) (not before 1 p.m.)

3. [3] Anna Danilina (KAZ) / Aleksandra Krunic (SRB) vs Shuko Aoyama (JPN) / Cristina Bucsa (ESP)

4. [1] Ellen Perez (AUS) / Taylor Townsend (USA) vs [4] Timea Babos (HUN) / Luisa Stefani (BRA)  

–

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Guangzhou Open
Location: Guangzhou, China
Surface: Hard
Category: WTA 250
Dates: Oct. 20 – 26, 2025
Prize money: $275,094
Draws: S32 – D16

Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025
Order of play

––

Center Court (3:30 p.m. start – 2:30 a.m. EDT)

1. Katarzyna Piter (POL) / Janice Tjen (INA) vs Alexandra Eala (PHI) / Nadiia Kichenok (UKR) 

2. [Q] Lulu Sun (NZL) vs [Q] Claire Liu (USA) (not before 4:30 p.m.)

3. [2] Ann Li (USA) vs [WC] Zhang Shuai (CHN)  

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– –  

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Stephanie Myles

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