Upsets rock Tokyo Open

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — US Open finalist Taylor Fritz crashed out of the Japan Open in the first round with Frances Tiafoe, Casper Ruud and Stefanos Tsitsipas joining him on a day of shocks in Tokyo.

Top seed Fritz, who this month became the first American man to reach a Grand Slam final since 2009, was bundled out 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 by France’s Arthur Fils.

It came just hours after seventh seed Tiafoe, who lost to Fritz in the US Open semi-finals, was eliminated with a 7-5, 6-3 loss to fellow American Brandon Nakashima.

Norway’s Ruud, the third seed, lost 7-6 (7/5), 6-1 to Australia’s Jordan Thompson.

Greece’s Tsitsipas, the fourth seed, went out with a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 defeat by American qualifier Alex Michelsen.

World No. 7 Fritz won the Japan Open title in 2022 but met his match in the energetic 20-year-old Fils.

Fritz needed a medical time-out to deal with a back issue during the second set.

He could not recover as world number 24 Fils closed out the match in just over two hours to set up a second-round match with Italy’s Matteo Berrettini.

Fritz played at the Laver Cup in Berlin after the US Open and said his schedule had been “a lot lately.”

“I obviously would have liked more time to prepare but that being said, I actually feel like I played a pretty good match and a pretty good level,” he said.

“Some things I wish I could have done better but, all in all, I don’t think I played bad by any means. It was mostly too good from Arthur.”

Tsitsipas’ woes deepened after losing to world number 49 Michelsen.

The Greek world No. 12 took the first set but had no answer to his 49th-ranked opponent for the rest of the match.

A two-time Grand Slam finalist, Tsitsipas was bundled out in the first round at the US Open last month after ending his long-time coaching collaboration with his father, Apostolos.

Tsitsipas said after losing to Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis at the final Grand Slam of the year that he was “nothing compared to the player I was before” and spoke of “long-term burnout.”