Men’s Tennis Japan Open: Kei ‌Nishikori Advances to Second Round

The ​first round of the men’s tennis ‌Kinoshita Group ⁢Japan Open was held at Tokyo’s Ariake Tennis Forest Park on⁤ the 26th, with ⁢former⁤ world No. 4 Kei Nishikori ‌competing against former ​world No. 3 Marin Cilic⁢ (Croatia)‍ and advancing by defeating him.

Nishikori defeated ⁣Cilic, who ⁤he defeated in the ⁢2014⁢ US ⁣Open final, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. In the second round, he will face Jordan Thompson (Australia), who defeated world No. 9 Kasper Ruud (Norway) in straight sets.

Yoshihito Nishioka faced world No. 21 Felix Auger-Aliassime (Canada) and won 7-6, 3-6, 7-6. He will compete ​in the second round against Holger Rune (Norway), who ‍is ranked 14th and is ⁤the 6th seed.

This day was an eventful ⁢one, with 3rd ​seed Ruud, 1st ⁣seed Taylor Fritz (USA),⁤ 4th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas (Greece), and 7th seed Francis Tiafoe (USA) all losing.