Taylor Fritz Wins Opener in Tokyo

Taylor Fritz of the United States celebrates a point against Jannik Sinner of Italy during their quarterfinal match at the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, Calif., on March 16, 2023. Andy Abeyta/The Desert Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK via Field Level Media

Top seed Taylor Fritz opened his title defense at 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 round in one hour, and 21 minutes. Fritz and Norrie are longtime rivals, with Fritz now moving ahead 7–6 in their career matchups.

Second seed Casper Ruud of Norway also moved on with a 7–6 (6), 6–3 win over Japan’s Yosuke Watanuki, but two other seeds fell at the ATP 500 event. Russian Aslan Karatsev ousted sixth seed Frances Tiafoe 6–3, 7–6 (4), and another 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 another Argentine, Tomas Martin Etcheverry, 6–4, 7–6 (5). Up-and-coming American Ben Shelton came back to top Taro Daniel of Japan 3–6, 6–4, 7–6 (2).

Nordic Open

American J.J. Wolf topped fifth seed Sebastian Baez of Argentina 7–6 (5), 6–2 in the first round in Stockholm.

Wolf won 22 of his 29 first–service points (75.9 percent) and had a 25–15 edge in total winners while committing only three unforced errors.

Russian qualifier Pavel Kotov ousted American seventh seed Christopher Eubanks 6–7 (2), 6–3, 7–6 (5), and Austrian qualifier Filip Misolic took down eighth seed Daniel Evans of Great Britain 6–4, 7–6 (1).

Serbia’s Laslo Djere, Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori, and Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka also won their opening matches.

European Open

French qualifier Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard rebounded from a rough first set to knock out sixth seed Roberto Carballes Baena of Spain 0–6, 6–3, 7–6 (4) in Antwerp, Belgium.

Mpetshi Perricard, ranked No. 226 in the world, smashed 13 aces and saved seven of 10 break points to pull off the upset.

German qualifier Maximilian Marterer eased past No. 7 seed Richard Gasquet 6–3, 6–4. No. 5 seed Yannick Hanfmann of Germany had an easier time than his seeded counterparts, beating Belgian qualifier Alexander Blockx 6–4, 7–6 (3).

Former World No. 3 Dominic Thiem of Austria rallied to beat Italy’s Luca Nardi 3–6, 7–6 (7), 6–2. No. 8 seed Juan Pablo Varillas of Peru and Russia’s Alexander Shevchenko also advanced.