Rinky Hijikata #93Australia22 – 0Dalibor Svrcina #114Czechia0

Svrcina has two completed matches on the Hangzhou courts and reached the main draw without dropping a set, while Hijikata has not played singles since August. That gives him match rhythm and a read on the surface and bounce before the first round. The trade-off is the added workload and the level of the opposition: neither Sekulic nor Noguchi is ranked inside the top 200, so the wins establish fitness and familiarity more than form against comparable opposition.

Winning three qualifying rounds at a Grand Slam and then a five-set main-draw match is the best evidence behind Svrcina's current level, and it came against better opposition than anything in this qualifying draw. It supports treating him as a tour-level player despite a ranking of 128 and a first round here as a qualifier. The run ended on 3 September and a three-week gap followed, so the level is established but not current.

Because Rublev is protected by a bye, this first-round match works as a play-off for a round-of-16 place against a leading seed. That raises the stakes of the opening round for a direct entrant and a qualifier alike, and it means the winner has to back up against a much higher-ranked opponent within a day or two. The draw also places Medvedev, the top seed, at the other end of the field.