The Japan Open saw a massive upset in the very first round as top seed and world no 3 Casper Ruud was rudely sent packing by Spain’s Jaume Munar.
Nick Kyrgios had no such problems as he strolled to the second round with a straight-sets win. And neither did Japanese No 1 Yoshihito Nishioka, who made short work of his first-round opponent to reach the second round of his home tournament.
Read on below as SBOTOP rounds up all of the latest Japan Open 2022 news.
Casper Ruud stuck in a rut
It’s been a rough few days for Casper Ruud in Asia. After climbing up to a career-best No 2 spot in the ATP Rankings following his run to the US Open final, the Norwegian subsequently lost the place after a shock loss to Yoshihito Nishioka in the second round of the Korea Open.
Ruud looked to redeem himself in the Japan Open, where he was once again the top seed. But he instead suffered another major setback as Jaume Munar defied the Japan Open 2022 odds by ousting Ruud in the first round.
Ruud fell to a huge 5-1 hole in the opening set and never quite recovered. He was slightly more competitive in the second set, but he was unable to clinch the crucial games as he succumbed to his second straight defeat.
“I couldn’t find the level I needed to today,” said Ruud. “I wasn’t able to get my feet going or the game going. If I want to play well I need to move well, and that wasn’t the case today.
“[There are] many things that I can make excuses about, but at the end it was not my day and Jaume was the better player, and you saw it clearly in the score.”
Munar will move on to the second round to face compatriot Pedro Martinez, who dispatched Alexei Popyrin in straight sets.
Nick Kyrgios makes winning return
Nick Kyrgios had no such problems moving on to the second round of the Japan Open as he routed Taiwan’s Tseng Chun-hsin, 6-3 6-1.
Kyrgios, who has already produced some big wins this season and was making his first appearance since his quarter-final run at the US Open, initially had some problems with his breathing as he adjusted to the different humidity. Moreover, he had to save a break point in his opening service game.
But he eventually settled down and acclimated to the conditions as he finished with an 86 per cent win rate (25 of 29) on his first serves. Kyrgios also benefitted from the conditions speeding up the court, which is more well-suited to his big-hitting game.
“I played really solid,” Kyrgios said post-match. “I came out a bit slow, but I don’t play many matches so it’s hard to just get straight back into that competitive flow. But as soon as I held the first game I kind of found my form again and played really well.”
Kyrgios, who improved his record to 36-10 on the season and made a run to the Wimbledon final, will next play Pole Kamil Majchrzak in the second round.
Several hometown heroes fall in first round
It was not a good first round for Japan’s hometown heroes. Of the nine Japanese players in the draw, only two have made it through to the second round.
Hiroki Moriya won his all-Japanese first-round clash with qualifier Yuta Shimizu, while another qualifier Rio Noguchi got past Ramanathan Ramkumar in three sets.
By far the biggest of the seven casualties was Japanese No 1 Yoshihito Nishioka, who lost to Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic, 2-6 7-6(1) 6-2.
Nishioka, who had just won his second career ATP Tour title after beating Denis Shapovalov in the final of the Korea Open, went down 2-0 in the first set, but he stormed back to win the next six games and the set.
But perhaps due to fatigue after his title-winning run in Seoul, he unravelled as the match wore on as Kecmanovic capitalised to seal the comeback win.
Kecmanovic will move on to face No 8 seed Dan Evans in the round of 16. Evans survived a bit of a scare to beat Radu Albot 6-7(3) 6-1 6-4 in the first round.
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