Eighth seed Iga Swiatek, a past Beijing champion, begins her tournament against Chinese wild card Xinyu Gao, who is ranked 244th.
Gao earned the biggest win of her career in round one, upsetting Panna Udvardy for her first WTA 1000 victory. That is a good story, but Udvardy is a 79th-ranked player with a 4-9 record on hard this year, so the step up to Swiatek is enormous. Gao's best results this season came on W50 events.
Swiatek's baseline power, topspin forehand and movement are elite on hard courts, and her return game puts constant pressure on opponents. Early-round matches against lower-ranked players are where she usually leans on routines and clean execution.
The home crowd will lift Gao, and she may hit a few winners from nowhere. Over two sets, though, Swiatek's consistency and depth should be too much. Watch for Swiatek to break early and take away the underdog's belief.
Prediction: Swiatek to win in straight sets. Confidence: very high.