Tsitsipas Suffers Upset Loss in Japan Open First Round

Image provided by tennis365.net The first round of the singles at the Kinoshita Group Japan Open Tennis Championships 2024 (Japan/Tokyo, hard, ATP500) for men’s tennis was held on the 26th, with the fourth seed S. Tsitsipas (Greece) being defeated in the first round by qualifier and world No. 49 Andrea Mikkelsen (United States) in an upset 6-4, 1-6, 2-6.

Tsitsipas, ranked 12th in the world, is competing in the Japan Open for the third time in six years since 2018. Six years ago, he defeated Taro Daniel and Andre de Minaur (Australia) to reach the quarterfinals, but lost in straight sets to Kei Nishikori in the quarterfinals.

In this match, Tsitsipas broke early in the first set and maintained his lead, but in the second set, he only won points on his first serve at a low rate of 43 percent, and was broken twice to fall behind at 1-1.

In the final set, Tsitsipas wanted to regain the initiative, but he was broken in the first game and then in the fifth game, and it was all over. He lost the set in one hour and 48 minutes.

Mikkelsen, who won the tournament, has won three straight matches, including the qualifying round, and will now face either Timothy Echeverri (Argentina), ranked 35th in the world, or Caroline O’Connell (Australia), ranked 79th in the world, in the second round.

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