The WTA Calendar continues post US Open, with the Japan Open also known as the Kinoshita Group Japan Open Tennis Championships 2023 for sponsorship reasons. This will take place between September 11 - September 17, 2023 with our preview taking a look at the action in Osaka.

A tournament affected in part due to the US Open, it sees multiple players in the initial line-up out leaving a poor line-up for a WTA 250.

Lesia Tsurenko, Lin Zhu and Peyton Stearns were initial focal points of the Entry List, but only one has survived. That being Zhu who is top seed in Osaka.

Stearns in particular had a superb run to the latter stages of the US Open, this was likely unexpected so likely would've played the tournament initially.

Second seed is Tatjana Maria with her compatriot, Jule Niemeier also in the draw. She faces Anna Kalinskaya in a top first round clash.

Other top ties include one just under it in the draw as Harriet Dart faces Linda Fruhvirtova. Yulia Putintseva, Xinyu Wang among others will also play.

It starts an Asia swing after the US Open, which will also see the WTA return to China for the first time since the Peng Shuai saga. But at least in the short term, it is Osaka that is the focus.

Nao Hibino was the last winner when it was previously held pre pandemic. It has also been won in recent years by Su-Wei Hsieh, Zarina Diyas, Christina McHale as well as multiple times by Sam Stosur, Marion Bartoli and Heather Watson.

It is played in the same week as the San Diego Open with Guadalajara the week after. As a result, it will suffer like Guangzhou from many staying in North America for the time being.