TOKYO: Poland’s number two seed Hubert Hurkacz reached the second round of the Japan Open tennis tournament with a 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4 win over American Marcos Giron in Tokyo on Wednesday.

Hurkacz was playing his first match since losing to Australian Jordan Thompson in the second round of the US Open last month.

US Open finalist Taylor Fritz is the top seed in the event. He takes on France’s Arthur Fils in his first match on Thursday.

Fellow American Ben Shelton returns to Tokyo to defend his title, while US Open semi-finalist Frances Tiafoe, Norway’s Casper Ruud and Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas are also competing.

The Netherlands’ Botic van de Zandschulp, who knocked Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz out of the US Open, was eliminated in the first round after losing 6-3, 6-4 to Italy’s Matteo Berrettini.

In another match played on Wednesday, Ugo Humbert of France eliminated wild-card entrant Shintaro Mochizuki of Japan 6-1, 6-2.

Published in Dawn, September 26th, 2024