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WTA Toray Pan Pacific Open Final Odds & Pick: Naomi Osaka vs Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

Hayley Graham

by Hayley Graham in Tennis

Updated Apr 14, 2020 · 10:25 AM PDT

Naomi Osaka hitting a forehand.
Naomi Osaka will face off against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the finals of the 2019 Osaka Open. Photo by Naomi Osaka [Twitter].
  • Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova reaches her second Toray Pan Pacific Open Final
  • Naomi Osaka reaches her third Toray Pan Pacific Open Final after two wins on Saturday (Japan time)
  • Neither player has won the Toray Pan Pacific Open

Naomi Osaka will face unseeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the Toray Pan Pacific Open Final, also known as the Osaka Open, Saturday night at 11:00 pm EST. Both players have been here before, but neither have been able to win the tournament.

Both players are coming off playing two matches in one day due to rain suspending their matches. Naomi Osaka heads into the finals match as the heavy favorite with a -230 odds, with Pavlyuchenkova’s odds at +175.

Osaka Open Women’s Finals Odds

Player Spread Moneyline Odds Total
Naomi Osaka -3.5 (-125) -230 O 21.5 (-110)
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova +3.5 (-105) +175 U 21.5 (-125)

Odds taken 9/21/19.

Osaka in Osaka

World No. 4 and top seed, Naomi Osaka of Japan will play in the Osaka Open Finals for a third time and she’s hoping that the third time’s the charm. Osaka has made it to the finals in 2016 and 2018, losing to Caroline Wozniacki 2016, and Karolina Pliskova in 2018.

Her 2019 season has been less than ideal. Osaka has had a tough year after her Australian Open win in January. She has failed to reach another final this year and wasn’t able to get past the fourth round in the other three Grand Slams,  the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open.

But despite the lack of success this season, Osaka has been playing nothing short of excellent this tournament. She had a poor first set against her early opponent Viktoriya Tomova, but that’s it.

Pavlyuchenkova’s Opportunity

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova is unseeded at this tournament, and she has powered her way into her first final of the season, and second at the Toray Pan Pacific Open. She upset No. 4 seed Angelique Kerber in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3 in just an hour and 19 minutes.

Her match against Kerber could’ve gone either way, and as Pavlyuchenkova was on the verge of winning, she made it a bit complicated by dropping serves. She ultimately was able to come back and won, landing her a spot in the finals.

Pavlyuchenkova has seen Osaka before, and beat her just last year. They play a similar game and the Russian has proven to be able to go the distance.

Osaka vs. Pavlyuchenkova

This will be the third time that these players have seen each other on the court. They’ve split their matchups thus far, with Pavlyuchenkova taking the tour-level meeting in Hong Kong in 2018, and Osaka winning at the 2018 Hopman Cup.

Osaka has an unbelievable amount of power on her forehand and serve, and is such an aggressive baseline player. Her serves have been clocked in at 125 miles per hour, making her serves one of the ten fastest serves on record in WTA history.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova plays a similar game to Naomi Osaka. She is a hard-hitting aggressive baseline player like Osaka, and has extremely strong offensive skills.

Osaka vs Pavlyuchenkova Head-to-Head

Osaka
VS
Pavlyuchenkova
1 Head-to-Head Wins 1
4 Current Ranking 41
Right-Handed (two-handed backhand) Plays Right-Handed (two-handed backhand)

Where to Put Your Money

So where do you put your money? Both players have a similar style of play, neither player has had a phenomenal 2019 season, but both have played excellent this tournament. Both Pavlyuchenkova and Osaka have stated that they enjoy playing on a hard surface, probably their favorite, so both will be looking sharp.

The upside that Osaka has on the Russian this tournament, is that she is playing at home. Maybe a bit of an unfair advantage, but something that could play into the result of the finals. There is something to be said about a home crowd, we’ve seen it recently with the success of Canadian Bianca Andreescu.

Pick: Osaka in 3. Osaka win (-230), Over 2.5 Sets (+145)

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