Watch: Daria Saville's incredible reaction to finding out she's drawn to play against home favourite Naomi Osaka in her Tokyo open opener
Daria Saville had quite a reaction upon finding out that she will face Naomi Osaka in the opening round of the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.
The Aussie and Karolina Pliskova were present when the main draw for the WTA 500 tournament was being made.
The WTA tweeted a video where Saville could be seen pointing towards herself as her name was being announced as Osaka's opponent and later applauded while Pliskova was having a good laugh sitting right next to her.
When you're drawn against the home favorite... 😅
That reaction from @Daria_gav 😝👏
#TorayPPO twitter.com/WTA_insider/st… https://t.co/oNb8qGmB5I
Karolina Pliskova, on the other hand, is the sixth seed at the event and will face a qualifier in her first-round match in Tokyo.
Naomi Osaka and Daria Saville will lock horns for the first time on the WTA Tour
The opening-round match between Naomi Osaka and Daria Saville in Tokyo will be the first meeting between the two on the WTA Tour. They did previously lock horns in the qualifying rounds of the 2016 Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati back, with the Aussie winning the match 6-4, 6-2.
Naomi Osaka reached the final of the Miami Open this season but has had a medicore season otherwise. The Japanese suffered opening-round exits in three successive tournaments, most recently losing to Danielle Collins at the US Open.
Daria Saville has won 19 out of 33 matches so far this season, reaching the final of the Granby Open. The Aussie also made it to the quarterfinals of the Miami Open and the semifinals of the Citi Open. The 28-year-old's performances saw her return to the top 50 of the WTA rankings in a meteoric return to top form, with the Aussie being ranked outside the top-600 in February.
Like Naomi Osaka, Daria Saville also exited the US Open in the first round, losing 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 to Elena-Gabriela Ruse.
The Japanese player won the previous edition of the Pan Pacific Open in 2019 by beating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the final.
Tokyo 2022: Naomi Osaka vs Daria Saville preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick | Toray Pan Pacific Open dlvr.it/SYVFpy
Saville might be the lower-ranked player in this clash but will enter the match as a slight favorite to come out on top, judging by recent performances. However, Osaka could put together a solid run and will be motivated to perform well on home soil.
The winner of the opening-round clash between the duo will face either fifth seed Beatriz Haddad Maia or Yuki Naito in the last 16 of the Toray Pan Pacific Open