Home Advantage for Calderano at the Brazil Star Contender; Japan Holds All Five Women’s Top Seeds
On June 19, WTT announced the men’s and women’s top-five seeds for the Sao Jose dos Campos Star Contender, to be held July 21-26 at the Vale Sul Shopping in Sao Jose dos Campos, Sao Paulo state, Brazil.
Men’s singles top five seeds: Hugo Calderano (world No. 8), Alexis Lebrun (No. 11), Dudek Jakub (No. 12), Benedikt Duda (No. 15) and Togami Shunsuke (No. 17).
Women’s singles top five seeds: Harimoto Miwa (No. 3), Otsuki Satsuki (No. 10), Hayata Hina (No. 12), Hashimoto Honoka (No. 13) and Nagasaki Miyu (No. 15).
Calderano is the only top-10 men’s singles player entered. In South America, and especially at home in Brazil, he often produces standout performances. Last year, after winning the World Cup men’s singles, he took the WTT Contender Buenos Aires title in Argentina in July, and a week later won the WTT Star Contender Foz do Iguacu on home soil, beating Duda 4-3 in the final.
Playing at home here as the men’s singles top seed, Calderano is determined to chase the title. The Lebrun brothers send only one player — younger brother Felix rests while older brother Alexis competes as the No. 2 seed.
Among the men’s seeds the top five come from the Americas, Europe and Asia, promising a clash of contrasting styles.
By contrast, all five women’s singles top seeds are from Japan. Like Calderano, top seed Harimoto Miwa won her event at last year’s Iguacu Star Contender in Brazil, beating teammate Nagasaki Miyu 4-2 in the final.
These five are also Japan’s highest-ranked women, four of them mainstays of the team event. With Japan’s men resting Harimoto Tomokazu and Matsushima Sora while sending a full-strength women’s team to South America, the precise intent is unclear.
Whether Calderano and Harimoto can repeat last year’s Brazilian success, and whether Japan’s five women can jointly chase the women’s title, are key storylines.