Maja Chwalińska will make her debut at the Toray Pan Pacific Open Tennis 2026 in Tokyo, where she has been seeded second for the WTA 500 hard-court event, according to SportoweFakty. The draw was made on Saturday, and the Polish world No. 11 enters directly in the round of 16 thanks to her seeding.
Chwalińska arrives in Japan after winning in Wuhan, a result that prompted her to skip the tournament in Ningbo, China, in order to rest. Tokyo marks her first appearance at this particular event on the women's tour.
Her opening opponent will be either China's Xinyu Wang or a player who comes through qualifying. A win there would send her into the quarter-finals.
Why it matters
The Tokyo seeding reflects both Chwalińska's current standing and the shape of the field. Several players withdrew from the Japanese capital, among them Iga Świątek and the Ukrainians Elina Svitolina and Marta Kostiuk, as SportoweFakty reports. Those absences lifted Chwalińska to the No. 2 position and gave her a bye into the last 16.
That arrangement carries a trade-off. She avoids the early rounds and the risk of a quick exit, but she also has no match on the Tokyo courts behind her when the serious business begins. Coming off a title run in Wuhan and a deliberate rest week, her first outing will be a test of how well she has managed that gap.
The tournament runs from Monday, 26 October to Sunday, 1 November, with a total prize pool of $1.206 million. The champion collects 500 WTA ranking points and a cheque for $185,500.
Osaka and Paolini in the same quarter
The quarter-final picture is where the draw becomes interesting. Should Chwalińska win her opener, she could meet seventh seed Naomi Osaka, the former WTA world No. 1 and the home favourite, according to SportoweFakty. Also in that section are Italy's Jasmine Paolini and Slovakia's Mia Pohankova, who received a wild card, along with another qualifier.
Osaka opens against Paolini, with a qualifier facing Pohankova in the other first-round match in that quarter. Xinyu Wang, Chwalińska's potential last-16 opponent, takes on a qualifier.
The third quarter holds Russia's Diana Shnaider, seeded third, and the Philippines' Alexandra Eala, seeded eighth. Czech Nikola Bartunkova and Australia's Talia Gibson were drawn into that section.
At the top of the draw sits Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, the top seed. The WTA rankings leader could secure the year-end No. 1 spot for 2026 in the coming days, SportoweFakty reports. Her quarter includes Belgium's Elise Mertens, seeded fifth, Canada's Leylah Fernandez and Greece's Maria Sakkari.
Rybakina and fourth seed Belinda Bencić of Switzerland both received byes. Bencić's section features American Ann Li, Russia's Jekaterina Alexandrova, France's Diane Parry, Spain's Cristina Bucsa and Romania's Sorana Cirstea, seeded sixth and playing the final season of her career.
What to watch
Chwalińska's first match will show whether the rest after Wuhan sharpened her or left her short of rhythm, and a potential meeting with Osaka would give the Tokyo crowd the matchup the draw has set up.
