It hasn’t been a good day for the Tokyo Open seeds with three big names going out, namely the former champion and this year’s top seed, Taylor Fritz plus Stefanos Tsitsipas and Frances Tiafoe.
I have a lot of confidence. Being here and knowing the situations I have come through in this exact stadium, in the most important moments Ben Shelton
Fritz was downed by Frenchman Arthur Fils 6-4 3-6 6-3 in a two-hour three-minute clash inside the Ariake Coliseum with the 20-year-old progressing to meet Italy’s Matteo Berrettini, already through, in round two.
Fils hit 32 winners with Fritz only able to reply with 18 of his own to inflict defeat which hinders the American’s progress for a place in the season ending ATP Finals in Turin.
He can only now hope he can put together a good run in next week’s Shanghai Masters.
Meanwhile Ben Shelton, the defending Champion, opened his defence of the title with a solid albeit patient win over his big-serving compatriot Reilly Opelka, going through 3-6 6-1 6-4 after one-hour and 47-minutes.
Ben Shelton the defending champion
Photo by Koji Watanabe/Getty Images)
“I have a lot of love for this tournament and this city,” Shelton, the eighth seed, said on his title defense. “I have a lot of confidence. Being here and knowing the situations I have come through in this exact stadium, in the most important moments.”
After leveling the match, the 21-year-old American struck 11 winners and did not face a break point in the third set to earn his second-round place and a meeting with Argentina’s Mariano Navone, a 6-4 6-4 winner over Italian Luciano Darderi.
“I think it was a tough start. I felt like I was struggling a little bit and getting rhythm,” Shelton added. “I thought Reilly was serving and returning extremely well and that made things difficult. When you play someone like Reilly, who can take the racket out of your hand, it is never going to be an easy match. I am happy with the way I competed. Breaking serve multiple times gives me a lot of confidence.”
Two other Americans secured their second-round places after upsetting their opponents.
Alex Michelsen, coming through the qualifying competition to make his Tokyo debut, took out the fourth seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas 4-6 6-1 6-2 in just 108 minutes by converting all five break points he raised on the Greek’s serve.
The conditions, hot and humid, seemed to affect the Greek idol who basically wilted after collecting the opening set.
Tsitsipas was followed by the seventh seeded Frances Taifoe at the Exit door following the American’s 7-5 6-3 loss to compatriot Brandon Nakashima.
In other action, there were also first-round victories for a pair of lefties, Yoshihito Nishioka and Jack Draper.
The Japanese star Nishioka saved two match points before prevailing 7-6(5) 3-6 7-6(5) against Felix Auger Aliassime, the Canadian who is still struggling to find the form that lifted him up into the top ten.
Nishioka, ranked 59 will next take on the sixth seed from Denmark, Holger Rune, who outlasted another Canadian Alejandro Tabilo for a 6-2 5-7 6-4 victory.
Meanwhile, the British No.1, a US Open semi-finalist, Draper earned a more comfortable opening victory. The Briton downed Italian qualifier Mattia 6-4 6-2 to set up a second-round meeting with Poland’s second seed Hubert Hurkacz.
After a tight start, Draper took charge when he broke in the fifth game and then hit four aces en route to claiming the opening set, cruising through the second with two breaks of serve.
“I want to get to the position where I’m consistently winning and playing at a high-level week in, week out,” Draper said on arriving in Tokyo.
