Japan Open

Novak Djokovic, Medvedev, and Basilashvili Close out Asian Swing With ATP Titles
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

ATP Shanghai

Novak Djokovic continued his momentum from the US Open, winning ATP Shanghai without dropping a set to claim his second ATP Masters title of the season. Djokovic eased past Borna Coric 6-3 6-4 in the final after dispatching Jeremy Chardy, Marco Cecchinato, Kevin Anderson, and Alexander Zverev with ease. Djokovic didn’t face a weak field, but he wasn’t bothered through five matches. Djokovic has now won 18 straight tour level matches as he’s won three tournaments in a row.

Coric reached his second final for 2018 and his first ever Masters final, after dropping a set against Stan Wawrinka, he defeated Bradley Klahn, an exhausted Juan Martin Del Potro, Matt Ebden, and Roger Federer to reach the final. The win against Federer one of the most notable of his rapidly rising career.

Kubot/Melo won their second consecutive doubles final, this time against Murray/Soares in straight sets.

ATP Tokyo

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Qualifier Daniil Medvedev took the ATP 500 title in Tokyo, it’s the third title for the young Russian in 2018 and this time he upset home hero Kei Nishikori 6-2 6-4 in the final. Medvedev dropped a set in qualifying but in the main draw he couldn’t be touched. He defeated Diego Schwartzman, Martin Klizan, Milos Raonic, and Denis Shapovalov to reach the final without dropping a set, crushing Canadian hopes in consecutive matches.

Nishikori didn’t drop a set prior to the final, Yuichi Sugita, Benoit Paire, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Richard Gasquet all lost to him in routine fashion. It’s Nishikori’s second ATP final loss in 2018 as he is still without a title this season.

Mclachlan/Struff defeated Klaasen/Venus in the doubles final.

ATP Beijing

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Georgia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili won his second ATP title of 2018 6-4 6-4 against Juan Martin Del Potro in the ATP Beijing 500 final. Basilashvili has had a career year as he came back from a set down against Jack Sock to win in three sets, then defeated Fernando Verdasco, Malek Jaziri, and Kyle Edmund in straight sets.

The favored Del Potro reached his 6th tour level fina lof the season, getting a walkover in the semis against Fabio Fognini after previously defeating Albert Ramos, Karen Khachanov, and Filip Krajinovic without dropping a set.

Kubot/Melo defeated Marach/Pavic in the doubles final.

Japanese Favorites Kei Nishikori, Taro Daniel, and Yoshihito Nishioka Target 2018 ATP Tokyo Title
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

Both home and international talent feature at the ATP 500 Japan Open in Tokyo. Here is your look at all the upcoming action from Japan’s only ATP World Tour tournament.

Top Half:

Marin Cilic had a strong hard court summer, but he’ll get a tough start to the Asian swing as his section begins with J.L. Struff, and is then set to feature Jeremy Chardy/Damir Dzumhur in round 2, and a tough quarterfinal opponent, between Stan Wawrinka/Taylor Fritz or Denis Shapovalov/Hyeon Chung. Wawrinka has come back into form and I’ll back him against Fritz, a semifinalist in China last week, and Shapovalov/Chung, with Cilic still favored to advance from his section.

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Milos Raonic will be favored in section 2, the big serving Canadian faces a struggling Adrian Mannarino first, with either Robin Haase or qualifier Yosuke Watanuki up in round 2. I’ll back qualifiers Daniil Medvedev and Martin Klizan to win their first round matches, with Klizan, a finalist in St. Petersburg, defeating Steve Johnson, and Medvedev edging #4 seed Diego Schwartzman. Raonic over Medvedev is my pick for the section.

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Bottom Half:

Kevin Anderson will be favored in his first two matches against Matt Ebden and Frances Tiafoe/Max Marterer. Ebden has played well enough to suggest he has a shot against Anderson but he’s still the underdog. Nick Kyrgios should be favored against Shenzhen champ and home favorite Yoshihito Nishioka, and I’ll give him the edge, if focused and fit, against Richard Gasquet. Gasquet opens with Denis Kudla and he’s not in great form, Anderson over Kyrgios is my quarterfinal pick.

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Kei Nishikori‘s section has him starting out against countryman Yuichi Sugita, he should win that and also defeat Benoit Paire/Nicolas Jarry in round 2. Metz champ Gilles Simon has a tough match with Alex De Minaur, a semifinalist last week, first up. Simon should win that and also upset Stefanos Tsitsipas (or Taro Daniel), as his form is better than the young Greek. Nishikori over fellow veteran Simon should be the outcome of section 3.

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Predictions

Semis
Cilic d. Raonic
Nisihkori d. Anderson

I’ll back Kei at home against a host of bigger hitters, while Cilic or Raonic should be equally favored to emerge from the top half. This is a tough tournament to predict but Nishikori has the most at stake and should fight the hardest to win.

Final
Nishikori d. Cilic

Donald Young, Mikhail Youzhny Ease Into Japan Open Main Draw

Posted by Admin on October 4, 2015

Posted in: Adam Addicott, ATP, Tokyo. Tagged: 2015, atp, Donald Young, Japan Open, Main Draw, Mikhail Youzhny, qualifying. Leave a comment

Donald Young, Mikhail Youzhny Ease Into Japan Open Main Draw
Adam Addicott, Tennis Atlantic

Donald Young (Photo: Chris Levy @Tennis_Shots for TennisEastCoast.com)

16 players battled against each other for four spots into the main draw of the 42nd Japan Open. This year’s main draw is headlined by French Open champion Stan Wawrinka and defending champion Kei Nishikori.

Top seed Donald Young continued his recent spat of impressive form by producing two straight sets wins during the qualifying competition. The world No. 50 is playing in his first tournament since the US Open where he stunned Viktor Troicki to reach the last sixteen of the tournament for the first time since 2011. In the first round, he beat Poland’s Michał Przysiężny 6-1, 7-6 (1). The Pole hasn’t played in the main draw of an ATP tournament since last year’s Japan Open. In the second round Young played Japan’s Hiroki Moriya, who knocked out 8th seed Yūichi Sugita in the first round. Young eased his way to the 6-1, 6-4, win after seventy-two minutes on the court.

In the main draw Young will play sixth seed Marin Cilic. It will be the first time that they have played each other since 2011. Their first meeting was in the quarterfinal of the 2005 Australian Open boys competition.

Young wasn’t the only American triumph during the competition. 7th seed Austin Krajicek stunned second seed Nicolas Mahut. The distant cousin of 1996 Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek breezed past wild card Shuichi Sekiguchi in the first round to set up a showdown with the Frenchman. The American was in impressive form, dropping just one point on his serve during the first set. Two breaks during the early-mid stages of both sets was enough to enable Krajicek to take the match 6-4, 6-4.

In the main draw Krajicek will play another qualifier, Matthew Ebden. Ebden’s route to the final was the most impressive performance with the Australian defeating the fourth and sixth seed. In the first round, he beat Nikoloz Basilashvili 7-6 (5), 6-0. In the final round, he had a tough test against Japan’s Go Soeda. During the match, which lasted over two hours, Ebden recovered from a 0-3 deficit in the final set to win 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. It is the second time that Ebden has beaten Soeda on Japanese soil. The first was at the 2013 Yokohama Challenger.

The final qualifier was former world No.8 Mikhail Youzhny. In the first round he played veteran Finnish player Jarkko Nieminen, who is retiring at the end of the season. After a close first set, the Russian took the match 7-6 (3), 6-3. In the final round, he endured another close match against US Open doubles champion Pierre-Hugues Herbert. Youzhny saved a set point in the first break before taking the tie-breaker 9-7. The second set was also on course for another tie-break until Youzhny broke Herbert’s serve for the third time of the match to win 7-6 (7), 6-4.

The reward for Youzhny’s efforts will be a first round clash with France’s Gilles Simon. Youzhny currently boasts a head-to-head lead of 8-3 against the Frenchman. Their last meeting was at the Canadian Open earlier this year where Youzhny won the match 6-1, 6-4.