Top seed Elena Rybakina opens her Beijing campaign against Alina Charaeva in the second round, with models giving her roughly a 90 percent chance.
Rybakina arrives as the US Open champion and brings tour-leading serve numbers and clean groundstrokes. Her tournament level at WTA 1000 events has been consistently high this season. There was some talk about her practice appearance earlier in the week, which is the one thing worth watching in the opening games.
Charaeva won a three-setter against Yulia Starodubtseva in round one, which shows she can grind. Her game is built on consistency, but she will struggle to survive against heavy serving and first-strike tennis from the baseline.
The key is how many free points Rybakina wins on serve. If she is landing first serves, this should be quick. Charaeva's best chance is to steal a first-set tiebreak and hope for a physical dip.
Prediction: Rybakina to win in straight sets. Confidence: high.