Tokyo frame: Taylor Fritz measures up to Arthur Fils | ATP Tour

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Tokyo draw: Fritz faces Fils; Turin hopefuls know their path

This ATP 500 on hard courts starts on Wednesday

September 23, 2024

Top seed Taylor Fritz will face #NextGen France’s Arthur Fils in a huge first-round clash at the Kinoshita Group Japan Open Tennis Championships, where the ATP Tour stars will look to put in a strong showing to move closer to the Nitto ATP Finals.

The American already knows what it’s like to be champion of this ATP 500 in Tokyo, lifting the trophy in 2022. At 26 years old, the finalist at the US Open at the beginning of the month arrives in Tokyo in fifth place in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin.

If Fritz beats Fils, he could face former Top 10 player Matteo Berrettini in the second round. The Italian, who has won three of his titles this year, will face a qualifier in his first match.

See the draw of the table

No. 2 seed Hubert Hurkacz, No. 3 Casper Ruud, No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas and No. 5 Tommy Paul are all in the mix for a place at the Nitto ATP Finals.

Hurkacz will be looking to secure his first Tokyo win in just his third appearance, when he faces Marcos Giron in the first round and could play US Open semi-finalist Jack Draper in the second round. The British left-hander, currently at a career-high No. 20 in the PIF ATP Rankings, will open against a qualifier.

Casper Ruud, who is ranked sixth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, will face Jordan Thompson, while sixth seed Holger Rune is his hypothetical quarter-final match-up. Ruud is in the same half of the draw as Fritz. In the lower half of the draw, Stefanos Tsitsipas will start against a qualifier and could play Paul in the quarter-finals. Paul will play Matteo Arnaldi in the first round.

Home favourite Kei Nishikori is a two-time champion in Tokyo. The Japanese wild card will play former world No. 3 Marin Cilic in the first round. Nishikori leads the Croatian 9-6 at the Lexus ATP Head-to-Head, his last match at the 2018 US Open.

Seventh seed Frances Tiafoe faces former Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF champion Brandon Nakashima in the first round, while eighth seed Ben Shelton plays compatriot Reilly Opelka. Japanese wild card Yoshihito Nishioka takes on Felix Auger-Aliassime, while last year’s semi-finalist Shintaro Mochizuki faces Ugo Humbert.

The hard court tournament will start on Wednesday.