No. 7 seed Dennis Shapovalov and No. 8 Frances Tiafoe let their leads slip away in first-round upsets on Wednesday at the Japan Open in Tokyo.
Shapovalov was up 5-3 in the first set before Germany’s Daniel Altmaier rallied to defeat the Canadian 7-5, 6-3. Altmaier saved four of five break points to set up a second-round meeting with either Bosnia’s Damir Dzumhur or Australia’s Aleksandar Vukic.
Tiafoe won the opening set and seized a 5-4 lead in the deciding set before falling to Hungarian qualifier Marton Fucsovics 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 in two hours and 27 minutes. It was Tiafoe’s first first-round hardcourt loss all season (10-1).
In other opening-day action, Italy’s Matteo Berrettini earned his first win since May with a 6-4, 6-2 defeat of Spain’s Jaume Munar and Portugal’s Nuno Borges outlasted Japanese wild card Yosuke Watanuki 2-6, 6-4, 6-1.
–Field Level Media
