However, a major concern is Sindhu's fitness. As we all saw at the Japan Open last week, she was really struggling after the hectic schedule that saw her reach back-to-back finals at the World Championship and the Asian Games. It took a toll on her physically and Sindhu was hardly the player she used to be. In Tokyo, she crashed out in Round 2 because of those exertions.
It would be interesting if she has managed to recover from it after a few days of rest. Sindhu has a relatively easy draw until the quarters. If she doesn't have any fatigue, she can definitely make it through to the quarters at least.
Good morning and welcome to the Sportskeeda live coverage of PV Sindhu's first round match at the China Open 2018. She is the third seed at this Super 1000 tournament and is definitely one of the title favourites.
By ranking, she is the favourite in this first round match against Kawakami and is expected to easily go through to the second round.