Wednesday tennis acca tips: Iga Swiatek begins quest to regain No 1

The ATP and WTA Tours are now well into the running on their respective Asian swings.

This week there is action in China and Kazakhstan on the men's tour while the women also alight Chinese soil in Ningbo alongside the WTA 500 Tokyo Open.

Here we make our picks for a handful of matches on Wednesday, 27 September 2023.

 

ATP Astana: Alexander Shevchenko vs Botic van de Zandschulp | Pick: Van de Zandschulp

ATP Astana: Mikhail Kukushkin vs Nuno Borges | Pick: Borges

ATP Beijing: Christian Garin vs Lloyd George Harris | Pick: Garin

ATP Beijing: Miomir Kecmanovic vs Yannick Hanfmann | Pick: Kecmanovic

WTA Tokyo: Kayla Day vs Veronika Kudermetova | Pick: Kudermetova

WTA Tokyo: Iga Swiatek vs Mai Hontama | Pick: Swiatek

WTA Ningbo: Nadia Podoroska vs Valeria Savinykh | Pick: Podoroska

WTA Ningbo: Sorana Cirstea vs Katerina Siniakova | Pick: Cirstea

 

ATP Astana: Alexander Shevchenko vs Botic van de Zandschulp

Botic van de Zandschulp comes into this match off the back of good form in Davis Cup singles.

Alexander Shevchenko meanwhile spent last week in Challenger competition, making the last four.

In a match up of skills and experience van de Zandschulp should be the one to come out on top.

These two players have never split the court in the ATP Tour competition.

 

ATP Astana: Mikhail Kukushkin vs Nuno Borges

Home player Mikhail Kukushkin makes a rare ATP Tour appearance when he faces Nuno Borges for the first time.

Borges will fancy his chances of marching into the last 16 after being drawn against the Kazakh veteran.

The best Kukushkin has managed this term is a pair of Challenger finals while Borges has claimed a pair of titles at that level.

Borges lost in the first round in Chengdu last week but will bounce back in Astana.

 

ATP Beijing: Christian Garin vs Lloyd George Harris

Christian Garin and Lloyd Harris have an opportunity to continue to push up the rankings with the second round of an ATP 500 event.

Harris came out on top in their first meeting, but in the second, it was Garin who came out on top.

While Harris should prefer to face Garin on a hard court, recent form suggests the South American could be the favourite.

These two are 1-1 over their careers, with Harris winning their only hard court clash.

 

ATP Beijing: Miomir Kecmanovic vs Yannick Hanfmann

Miomir Kecmanovic is out to extend his head-to-head advantage over Yannick Hanfmann to 2-0.

Kecmanovic beat Hanfmann when they last met although that clash did come on the Serbian's favoured clay.

Both players had to fight through qualifying to join the main draw but have a shot at a rankings jump in Beijing this week.

The draw could open up for the winner of this match to go deep in the ATP Tour's return to Beijing.

 

WTA Tokyo: Kayla Day vs Veronika Kudermetova

Kayla Day has her work cut out for her to keep a great run going in Tokyo with Veronika Kudermetova awaiting her in the next round.

Day stunned Kudermetova the last time they met but won't get the drop on the No 8 seed this time around.

Kudermetova won't be surprised and should have a gameplan to restore parity in the rivalry.

It has also been seven years since that meeting in Daytona Beach and Kudermetova has enjoyed the better career in the intervening period.

 

WTA Tokyo: Iga Swiatek vs Mai Hontama

Iga Swiatek starts her Beijing bid against Mai Hontama and will be out to push for a return to the top of the WTA Rankings.

Swiatek is the top seed in Beijing and can narrow the gap to world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka with the Belarussian not in action this week.

Swiatek owns a juniors win over Hontama but the players have not met on the WTA Tour.

Hontama defeated Nao Hibino in the first round while Swiatek enjoyed a bye into the second round.

 

WTA Ningbo: Nadia Podoroska vs Valeria Savinykh

Nadia Podoroska has a chance to find for against Valeria Savinykh in Ningbo.

Podoroska will be out to avenge a loss to Savinykh on the clay of Aschaffenburg.

Podoroska has enjoyed the better 2023 season of the two players and is also the higher-ranked of the players.

The past win won't have too much relevance and Savinykh hasn't shown enough to suggest that she could win this tie.

 

WTA Ningbo: Sorana Cirstea vs Katerina Siniakova

Sorana Cirstea has a tough opening date in Ningbo Katerina Siniakova, who is better than her current ranking suggests.

However, Cirstea does own a 4-0 lead in the head-to-head rivalry and is in better touch heading into the tournament.

It has been over three years since they last faced each other, and on that occasion, Siniakova also took the first set.

Cirstea returned to action in Ningbo for the first time since her run to the US Open last eight, and best Claire Liu, she should win again.