Ashlyn Krueger of the United States Scores Her First WTA Title at 2023 Japan Women's Open

The American competed against Zhu Lin of China in the final.

Ashlyn Krueger, 19, of the United States defeated Zhu Lin, 29, of China to claim the Women’s Singles title at the 2023 Japan Women’s Open in Osaka, Japan (a WTA 250 event). The score in the final was 6-3 and 7-6 (with a 8-6 tiebreaker) in favor of Krueger.

This was the first match Krueger and Zhu have ever played against each other on the WTA Tour. Today’s victory is the first title Krueger has won on the 2023 WTA Tour and the first title of her career in single’s competition. Notably, she becomes the tenth player on the tour to win her first title during the 2023 season. She is also the youngest player to do so this year - as she is 114 days younger than Maria Timofeeva of Russia was when she won her first WTA title at the 2023 Budapest Grand Prix in July.

Heading into this tournament, Zhu was ranked as the Number 35 tennis player on the 2023 WTA Tour, while Krueger carried the Number 123 designation. By winning in Osaka, Krueger has received 280 points in the overall rankings. Meanwhile, Zhu has picked up 180 points.

Nao Hibino of Japan (No. 81) was the tournament’s defending champion when it was last held in September 2019. However, she lost in the first round to Rebecca Marino of Canada (No. 129).

Krueger arrived in the final after winning against Kateryna Baindl of Ukraine (No. 84), Jessika Ponchet of France (No. 140), Anna Kalinskaya of Russia (No. 92), and Mai Hontama of Japan (No. 176).

In the other half of the main draw, Zhu defeated Wang Xiyu of China (No. 91), Moyuka Uchijima of Japan (No. 174), Elizabeth Mandlik of the United States (No. 167), and Wang Xinyu of China (No. 39).

The revised rankings for the 2023 WTA Tour will be officially released on Monday, September 18. The tour will then play two tournaments from September 18 to 23: the Guadalajara Open in Guadalajara, Mexico (a WTA 1000 event) and the Guangzhou Open in Guangzhou, China (a WTA 250 event). Both tournaments will be played on hard courts.

Jessica Pegula of the United States (No. 5) is the reigning champion at the Guadalajara Open. However, she has withdraw from the main draw before the start of this year’s competition. Meanwhile, Sofia Kenin of the United States (No. 93) is the reigning champion at the Guangzhou Open when it was last held in September 2019. She is competing in Guadalajara instead this year.