After 3 hours and 12 minutes of play, Félix Auger-Aliassime had to admit defeat in three sets of 6-7 (5), 6-3 and 6-7 (5) against the Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka on Thursday in the first round of the Japan Open in Tokyo.
Nishioka, ranked 59th in the world, saved two match points to secure his second victory at the tournament.
Auger-Aliassime committed 66 unforced errors to his opponent’s 47. Auger-Aliassime had already beaten Nishioka in four of the six matches.
The 24-year-old Quebecer, however, managed 12 aces.
Both players pushed themselves to the limit. After an unforced error at the net by FAA on match point, the Japanese player collapsed to the ground with a leg cramp while celebrating.
The Japanese will now face the winner of the match between Alejandro Tabilo and Holger Rune in the next round.
The seeded players fall
American Frances Tiafoe, seeded No. 7 and semi-finalist at the last US Open, and Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas (No. 4), were both also eliminated in the first round.
Tiafoe (15th in the world) lost in two sets 7-5, 6-3 against his compatriot Brandon Nakashima (36th).
Tsitsipas (12th), twice a Grand Slam finalist, lost in three sets 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 against another American, Alex Michelsen (49th), who came through qualifying.
The Greek, winner on clay at the Monte Carlo Masters 1000 in April, is going through a difficult period marked by a recent dramatic separation from his father as coach.
Eliminated in the first round at the US Open at the end of August, the former world number 3, finalist at Roland-Garros 2021 and the Australian Open 2023, has left the top 10 and has only won two titles in two seasons.
Frenchman Arthur Fils, ranked 24th in the world, beat American Taylor Fritz (7th), US Open finalist, in three sets 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 on Thursday in the first round of the tournament.
Thanks in particular to many more winning shots (32 against 18) during a successful match, Fils took the upper hand against the American, who was seeded no. 1, but seemed physically exhausted, with an intervention from his physio in the second set.
Son will meet Italian Matteo Berrettini, ranked 45th in the world, in the second round.
The 20-year-old French number 2 (behind Ugo Humbert, 19th in the world) won the Hamburg tournament last July against Alexander Zverev (2nd) but lost in the second round of the US Open against Gabriel Diallo (105th) at the end of last August.
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