Simon Dalton presents his prediction for the WTA Tokyo match.
Fifth seed Belinda Bencic continues her push to break back into the world’s top 10, and she couldn’t have asked for a more favourable first-round draw — facing qualifier Varvara Gracheva, who often shines in preliminaries but struggles once she reaches the main draw.
Belinda Bencic
World No.13 Belinda Bencic has re-established herself among the elite after last year’s dip in form, winning 66% of her matches this season (33-17) across all surfaces. Her 2025 highlights include titles in Abu Dhabi and Seoul, plus a Wimbledon semi-final run, where she fell to the unstoppable Iga Swiatek. On hard courts, Bencic has been ruthless against lower-ranked opposition, boasting a perfect 15 wins from 15 matches this year against players outside the top 50.
Varvara Gracheva
World No.82 Varvara Gracheva has enjoyed a lively autumn, winning seven of her last eleven matches, including three in Tokyo qualifying. Still, most of her victories came against opponents ranked outside the top 50 — only Natalija Kostic and Emiliana Arango provided top-50 tests. Against top-20 players on hard courts, she’s lost four of six matches. In her recent win over Wang Xinyu, she dropped serve five times but compensated with aggressive returns. However, that high-risk approach leads to inconsistency — nearly 28% of her points end in unforced errors, especially during extended rallies. Despite strong qualifying runs in Wuhan and Osaka, she lost in the opening round of both main draws.
Belinda Bencic vs Varvara Gracheva Prediction
Bencic’s tactical discipline and superior class should be more than enough to overpower Gracheva, whose game still lacks stability against higher-ranked opponents. Expect a confident display from the Swiss star.
