(Photo credit score: Andy Abeyta/The Desert Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK)
Top seed Taylor Fritz opened his title protection on the Japan Open with a 6-4, 6-3 first-round win over Cameron Norrie of Great Britain on Tuesday in Tokyo.
The American struck 13 aces to advance to the second spherical in a single hour, 21 minutes. Fritz and Norrie are longtime rivals, with Fritz now transferring forward 7-6 of their profession matchups.
Second seed Casper Ruud of Norway additionally moved on with a 7-6 (6), 6-3 win over Japan’s Yosuke Watanuki, however two different seeds fell on the ATP 500 occasion. Russian Aslan Karatsev ousted sixth seed Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 7-6 (4), and one other Russian, seventh-seeded Karen Khachanov, was defeated by Australian Alexei Popyrin 6-4, 6-2.
Diego Schwartzman defeated Francisco Cerundolo 6-4, 6-1 in an all-Argentina battle, and Japan’s Shintaro Mochizuki knocked out one other Argentine, Tomas Martin Etcheverry, 6-4, 7-6 (5). Up-and-coming American Ben Shelton got here again to high Taro Daniel of Japan 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2).
–Field Level Media