When Lloyd Harris double faulted to hand eighth seed Alex de Minaur the second set of their first-round match at the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships on Wednesday afternoon, it seemed the South African’s chances of springing an upset over the #NextGenATP Aussie were as long as his second serve.

But Harris stayed the course, saving two match points in a final-set tie-break en route to a 6-3, 6-7(6), 7-6(8) triumph over World No. 25 De Minaur, who has won three ATP Tour titles this year. This was the 22-year old’s best victory by ATP Ranking.

“[It feels] incredible, honestly. I felt like I had chances to close out the second set and it didn’t go my way. In the third set it was just a battle. He was playing at a really high level, giving me no points. I was just getting through my service games and just holding on, trying to get some opportunities,” Harris said. “To see off some match points, play an exciting as heck tie-break, I just feel fantastic after coming through that.”

Harris has found his best form, having reached his first ATP Tour semi-final last week in Chengdu as a lucky loser. The Cape Town native has won 10 of his 20 tour-level matches this season.

At 5/6, Harris delivered a big first serve that elicited a short ball, which he pounced on with his forehand to force an error from his speedy opponent. Then at 7/8, Harris rocketed another booming serve, which De Minaur was barely able to get his racquet on.

“Every time it was match point I was just like, ‘Big first serve, and strike.’ That was going through my head, ‘Don’t get into the long exchanges,’” Harris said. “He’s unbelievable when you get to the longer end of the rallies, so I was just thinking to be aggressive, go for my serve, back myself.”

The South African No. 2 converted on his second match point. After carefully playing a short backhand, Harris left the line open for a passing shot, but De Minaur missed wide, and the victor dropped his racquet in celebration.

“I was just proud of myself. I was telling myself how big that was because mentally it’s so difficult after having so many chances to finish the match,” Harris said. “I felt I was just clinical in the end and I’m glad to get through it.”

Last year’s Next Gen ATP Finals alternate will next face Aussie John Millman, who rallied past Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 after two hours and six minutes. Millman saved four of the five break points he faced and seized the only break chance of the decider to advance to the second round.

The World No. 80 went through qualifying, and now he will have a chance to reach his fourth ATP Tour quarter-final of the season, and his second at an ATP 500 tournament (Acapulco). Millman is making his debut here in Tokyo.

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic knew on Wednesday he would face an inspired Go Soeda, who was playing in front of his home crowd at the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships, and that’s exactly what the top seed got.

But Djokovic persevered, defeating Soeda, a wild card, 6-3, 7-5 in one hour and 35 minutes to advance to the quarter-finals. It is the ninth time the Serbian has made at least the last eight from 12 tournaments this season.

“[He] made me work for my win today and the atmosphere was really good on the court,” Djokovic said. “I enjoyed it.”

The Japanese player, who was 0-12 in Tokyo main draws before defeating German Jan-Lennard Struff in the first round, showed plenty of resiliency. Djokovic broke for a 6-3, 5-3 lead with a big forehand return down the middle that Soeda could not handle.

But Soeda did not let his shoulders slump. Instead, the 35-year-old broke back by attacking the Serbian’s forehand. And in the next game, when Djokovic earned three match points, the World No. 133 dismissed them with a forehand volley, an unreturned serve and an overhead winner, respectively.

“I think I played a pretty good tennis match. From the baseline, I was solid, aggressive when I needed to be and taking the ball early. I served very well until that game when I was serving for the match at 5-3. I made some double faults, I missed all my first serves, so I didn’t serve that well that game, allowing him to break back and come back to the match,” Djokovic said. “But there were not too many negatives today, because I had chances constantly. I had match points at 5-4, but he just came up with some very good shots and fought hard and that’s why we give him credit. But from my side, I’m really pleased.”

Djokovic showed why he has been the No. 1 player in the ATP Rankings for the third-most total weeks in history, though, by not getting disappointed himself. The 75-time tour-level titlist cracked a massive inside-out forehand to force a backhand error from Soeda, earning his fourth service break and with it, the match.

The 32-year-old struck 10 aces and won 81 per cent of his first-serve points. He also earned 61 per cent of his second-serve points, which is a better rate of points won than Soeda managed on his first delivery (60%).

“I probably played even on a higher level than the first round,” Djokovic said. “So the game is going in the right direction, that’s for sure.”

Djokovic will next face the winner of fifth seed Lucas Pouille and Japanese No. 2 Yoshihito Nishioka. The World No. 1 owns a 2-0 FedEx ATP Head2Head series lead against Pouille — with those victories coming this year at the Australian Open and in Cincinnati, respectively — and he has never played Nishioka.

Did You Know?
Djokovic is trying to win a tournament on his main draw debut for the 10th time in his career. The last time the Serbian achieved the feat was two years ago in Eastbourne.

Andy Murray continued his return to form on Wednesday at the China Open by reaching his first ATP Tour quarter-final for 12 months.

The former World No. 1, who underwent his second right hip surgery on 28 January, fought hard to beat fellow Briton Cameron Norrie 7-6(6), 6-7(4), 6-1 in two hours and 52 minutes. It is the first time Murray has won two consecutive tour-level matches since his operation.

“I’m tired, I just had a sleep before coming,” said Murray. “I’m really tired. That’s the first time I’ve had to do that since I came back… It’s something that I need to kind of get used to again, especially playing at this level and that intensity.

“It was a good step for me. It’s great that I won the match. Whether I’d won or lost it, I was able to come out the following day and be competitive and play some good tennis. But obviously I’m happy I’ve got the day off tomorrow to recover.”

The 32-year-old, who reached the last eight of an ATP Tour event at Shenzhen (l. to Verdasco) in September 2019, will next face top-seeded Austrian Dominic Thiem, a contender for a place at the Nitto ATP Finals, who beat Chinese wild card Zhizhen Zhang 6-3, 6-3.

Murray, the 2016 Beijing champion, served for the first set at 5-3, but qualifier Norrie regrouped to break back and saved three set points in the tie-break prior to double-faulting at 6/7.

Norrie, 24, took a 5-2 lead in the second set and held a set point at 5-4 on Murray’s serve, but had to dig deep to clinch the tie-break. The decider was one-way traffic, with Murray winning the first five games of the set.

“The good thing about tennis is that you can change strategy and tactics,” said Murray. “I think if you watched the end of the second set, pretty much the whole of the third set, I tried to keep the points short. I started coming to the net a lot more. My feeling was that the average rally length went down by quite a few shots.

“In the third set, I didn’t really feel like out of breath after any of the rallies, whereas in the middle of the second set, I felt like there’s three or four games where we were playing a lot of long points, but he was also dictating the rallies.”

World No. 69 Norrie, who advanced to his first ATP Tour final at the ASB Classic in Auckland (l. to Sandgren) in January, is now 20-22 on the season.

David Goffin had his back against the wall on Colosseum at Ariake Tennis Park on Wednesday. The Belgian won the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships the last time he was here, but he found himself down a set and trailing 1/5 in the second-set tie-break against Pablo Carreno Busta, last week’s Chengdu champion.

But Goffin’s determination never wavered, riding the crowd’s support and his own rising level to save three match points in a 1-6, 7-6(8), 6-0 victory after two hours and 18 minutes to reach the second round. It’s his second win in the span of a month against the Spaniard.

“It was a little bit of magic because I was down a set and 1/5 in the tie-break,” Goffin said. “Again, I fought on this centre court and it’s another win. I’ve won a lot of matches here.”

It wasn’t just the tie-break in which Goffin had to overcome a deficit, though. Carreno Busta broke the 2017 Nitto ATP Finals runner-up three times in the second set, and he would seize a 4-2 advantage. But Goffin never let up, giving himself a chance to pounce on his opportunities.

“It was not easy. [It was a] tough first set, he was playing very good and had a lot of confidence going in. He didn’t miss a ball, and it was tough to find a rhythm,” Goffin said. “He’s such a great player, great fighter and he was serving well. He was doing everything well in the first. So I had to just fight, wait a little bit, try to find my timing, my groundstrokes. It came a little bit, I served a little bit better at the end of the second and in the third.”

Even when he fell well behind in the second-set tie-break, the Tokyo crowd never stopped backing its former champion. And that helped keep the Belgian’s spirits up.

“It was a great atmosphere. I’m really happy,” Goffin said. “I’m fighting every time I’m here in Tokyo and I win another match. So I’m very happy, it was amazing to have all the support from the Japanese.”

Goffin will next face #NextGenATP Canadian Denis Shapovalov, who cruised past fellow 20-year-old Miomir Kecmanovic on Tuesday evening. It will be their first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting.

“He’s very talented, amazing groundstrokes from both sides. When he has time, he hits very hard. He’s serving really well, a lefty, unpredictable sometimes,” Shapovalov said. “I have to play very solid, I have to try to be aggressive, make him miss, because he can miss sometimes. But if he’s on the ball and he sees the ball like a football, he can play very well. I will try to fight like I did today, just play a little bit better, serve well, and we will see.”

Did You Know?
Goffin is the lone former champion in the field. In 2017, which was also his last appearance in Tokyo, Goffin lost just one set en route to his only ATP 500 trophy. In 2016, he reached the final but lost against Nick Kyrgios.

When Taro Daniel finished off a final-set tie-break upset of second seed Borna Coric on Tuesday afternoon at the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships, it was more than just a victory for Daniel. It was a big win for Japanese tennis.

That’s because Daniel was the fourth Japanese player to reach the second round in Tokyo year, joining Yoshihito Nishioka, Go Soeda and Yasutaka Uchiyama. It is the first time at least four players have made it through the first round here since 2003.

What’s more impressive is that 16 years ago, this event featured a 48-player draw. There are only 32 competitors in the singles field now.

“It’s impressive. Taro Daniel made an impressive win against Coric. Go Soeda beat Struff in the first round,” said World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, who plays 35-year-old wild card Soeda in the second round. “Playing at home is always extra motivation, so I’m sure that all the Japanese players feel inspired to play their best tennis. That’s something that I’m expecting from Soeda tomorrow.”

It isn’t as if this Japanese quartet is operating in silos, either. They have been out watching each other play when possible, and eagerly waited to celebrate one another’s victories.

“You’ve got to try to keep a healthy competition instead of jealousy. There are times I do feel a little frightened that they’re going to pass me [in the ATP Rankings], but in the end it’s for the greater good of the sport in the country,” said Daniel, who is the No. 3 Japanese player, behind Kei Nishikori and Nishioka. “It’s a very positive thing and I think we all get along really well… I’m really glad that we’re all doing well this week.

“I like that [we can watch each other] because I don’t think in other sports you can’t really go watch other people’s matches on the court or on the stadium. In tennis you can do that, you can learn from the matches you’re watching and also support people that are closer to you. That’s pretty cool.”

The camaraderie is not something that has gone unnoticed by Tournament Director Nao Kawatei, who has seen the home favourites congratulating each other outside the locker room over the past couple of days.

“This is actually a team,” Kawatei said. “Even when Daniel and Uchiyama came back to the locker room, these Japanese guys were waiting to celebrate each other winning. So they’re working as a very good team.”

Kei Nishikori, the top-ranked Japanese player, was unable to compete at Ariake Tennis Park this year due to injury, but his countrymen have thrilled the home fans nonetheless. After each point Daniel won towards the end of his third set, especially in the tie-break, the Colosseum vibrated from fans’ reactions.

“We haven’t really been in the spotlight the last years because we haven’t been Top 50, Top 100. We’ve been in the 100s and 150s. Now we’re finally able to win matches in [an ATP] 500 tournament,” Daniel said of Japanese players outside of Nishikori. “I think these guys are totally capable of making Top 100 and going pretty far in [ATP] 250s and some [ATP] 500s. So now the [fans] are like, ‘It’s not only Kei’. Obviously Kei’s still the big star, but we can count on some other guys for Davis Cup and ATP Cup, too.”

Kawatei was happy to see players from this country find a way through to the second round. But it’s not something he is stunned by.

“I know how much they’re working very hard, these four Japanese players. It was very unfortunate that [Yuichi] Sugita couldn’t make it, but I know all of them… they’re really working so hard,” Kawatei said. “As a result, it is very good. But it’s not a huge surprise, because I know they have the ability to do that.”

Djokovic expects the crowd to urge on Soeda and for the Japanese to benefit from that energy. The top seed acknowledged that the homegrown success has been nothing but good for the event, Japanese tennis and the fans.

“For the tournament, obviously it’s very positive to have a representation of Japanese players in the tournament, round to round. The deeper they go, the better it is for the tournament, the better it is for the fans, for sponsors, for anybody,” Djokovic said. “I see only positives there.”

These four players now have another opportunity to make the most of competing at home. And there is no doubt that the Tokyo faithful will be behind them every step of the way.

“For the Japanese, playing at the Rakuten Japan Open is very special,” Kawatei said before reflecting on the fans’ support for their home hopes. “These are true tennis fans. They are keen to support these Japanese guys, so I’m sure the [players] have loads of confidence and feel the support and full backup from the spectators.”

Ivan Dodig/Filip Polasek earned the doubles upset of the day on Monday at the China Open in Beijing. The Croatian/Slovakian team knocked out third seeds and Nitto ATP Finals hopefuls Raven Klaasen/Michael Venus 6-1, 5-7, 10-5 to advance at the ATP 500 event.

Dodig/Polasek, with 1,960 points, are currently in 12^th place in the ATP Doubles Race To London, 660 points behind eighth-placed Rajeev Ram/Joe Salisbury (2,570). The top eight teams at the end of the regular season will qualify for the prestigious championships, to be held 10-17 November at The O2 in London. Klaasen/Venus are in fifth place in the Race, with 3,370 points.

Second seeds Lukasz Kubot/Marcelo Melo rolled past Brits Kyle Edmund/Daniel Evans 6-4, 6-3. Kubot/Melo are second in the Race (3,445 points) and are looking to qualify for a third straight season.

John Isner/Alexander Zverev squeezed past fourth seeds Kevin Krawietz/Andreas Mies, the reigning Roland Garros champions, 4-6, 7-5, 10-7. Krawietz/Mies are seeking their maiden showing in London and are in fourth place in the Race, with 3,375 points.

In other action, Chinese wild cards Mao-Xin Gong/Ze Zhang knocked out two-time Nitto ATP Finals champions Henri Kontinen/John Peers 4-6, 6-4, 10-7, and Russians Karen Khachanov/Andrey Rublev dismissed Felix Auger-Aliassime/Matteo Berrettini 6-7(2), 6-2, 10-8. Kontinen/Peers are in seventh place in the Race (2,820).

Top Seeds Fall In Tokyo
Croatians Nikola Mektic/Franko Skugor knocked out top seeds Marcel Granollers/Horacio Zeballos 6-4, 7-6(3) at the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships in Tokyo. Granollers/Zeballos, US Open finalists, are in 10^th place in the Race, with 2,200 points, 370 points behind eighth-placed Ram/Salisbury.

But second seeds Nicolas Mahut/Edouard Roger-Vasselin restored order with a 6-4, 6-4 win against Hubert Hurkacz/Benoit Paire, and third seeds Ram/Salisbury bolstered their London chances, beating Marcus Daniell/Philipp Oswald 3-6, 7-6(4), 10-7.

Andy Murray isn’t sure if he’s back to a Top 20 level, but the former World No. 1 admitted his comeback took another massive step on Tuesday at the China Open in Beijing.

The Scot earned his biggest win since undergoing a second hip surgery on 28 January, beating World No. 13 Matteo Berrettini 7-6(2), 7-6(7) to make the second round at the ATP 500.

“I feel like I’m hitting the ball pretty clean,” Murray said. “Things are going in the right direction.”

It is Murray’s biggest win by ATP Ranking since more than 12 months ago, when, in September 2018, he beat No. 11 David Goffin at the Shenzhen Open.

The difference, however, is that last year Murray still felt pain daily in his right hip. This year, as he reminded everyone again on Tuesday, he is still pain-free. “Zero pain in my hip,” he said with a smirk.

Murray began his comeback in August at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, falling to Richard Gasquet in straight sets. He looked tentative and rusty.

“I felt a bit out of place. I didn’t really feel like I was playing at a great level,” he said in Beijing.

Murray played another match at the Winston-Salem Open before playing three more at an ATP Challenger Tour event in Mallorca.

It wasn’t until last week, however, that Murray began showing glimpses of his former level, avenging his Winston-Salem loss to Tennys Sandgren and taking the opening set against eventual Zhuhai champion Alex de Minaur.

“Last week was a really big step for me in terms of how I felt and how I played in the matches,” Murray said. “Although I lost in the second round, I felt like I was playing tour-level tennis. I was competitive. I was in the match, even the one that I lost. Whereas I didn’t feel that in the States. I didn’t feel I was in the matches or playing great tennis.”

He ratcheted up his level against Berrettini, coming forward to finish points and chasing down drop shots that he, out of bad habit, was letting go in Cincinnati.

“In terms of the way that I’m moving now, in comparison to a couple of months ago, just my level of confidence in that is much, much higher than what it was a few months ago,” he said.

But Murray, whose ranking has dipped to No. 503, tempered the bubbling enthusiasm surrounding his win against Berrettini, who is in eighth place in the ATP Race To London and made the US Open semi-finals (l. to Nadal) last month.

The Briton, who is 2-3 in his comeback, hasn’t felt great after matches and is still adjusting to playing two to three matches in a week. Another test looms on Wednesday against countryman Cameron Norrie.

“Now I just need to try and get the matches, get them consistently, so that I’m used to playing three, four matches in a week,” Murray said.

“Right now, at this level, I don’t know if I’m ready to do that or not. So the more I can get through these sort of matches like I did today, I’ll get there a little bit quicker.”

Canadian Denis Shapovalov carried momentum into his first-round match at the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships Tuesday evening against fellow #NextGenATP player Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia. It showed on Colosseum, as Shapovalov defeated Kecmanovic 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 22 minutes.

“[I’m] definitely very happy. Obviously playing Miomir, I knew it was going to be a tough match. I played him a lot of times in juniors and in pros, so I knew what a grind and what a battle it was going to be, so I’m really happy to get through,” said Shapovalov, who reached the semi-finals in Chengdu last week. “It was definitely a tough first-round match. Arriving late here, not much time to practise, but I felt good, I was serving good and hopefully that continues.”

Shapovalov hit 16 aces and saved all five break points he faced against the World No. 51, breaking once per set to advance to the second round in Tokyo for the second consecutive year. It was another strong performance in a city where last year, he defeated former World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka. Although Shapovalov is only 20, the Japanese fans support him as if they’ve been cheering for him for more than a decade.

“It’s amazing. I feel like the vibe, the fans are always with me here from the first time I came here. Two years ago I didn’t play the tournament, but I was practising and there were so many fans coming to watch me and support me,” Shapovalov said. “I feel like every year my fanbase just grows bigger and bigger here. So it’s really an honour. I feel like they’re such nice fans as well, they’re really respectful.”

Kecmanovic will have been motivated after Shapovalov defeated him 6-2, 6-3 in August at the Winston-Salem Open. But the Canadian never gave the youngest player in the Tokyo field an edge.

The 20-year-old Shapovalov will next face 2017 champion David Goffin or last week’s Chengdu winner, Pablo Carreno Busta, for a spot in the quarter-finals. Both players have cracked the Top 10 in the ATP Rankings over the course of their career.

Did You Know
Shapovalov has already made three ATP Masters 1000 semi-finals, and one in three consecutive years. This season, the lefty made the last four in Miami.

The odds were not in Taro Daniel’s favour when the Japanese player stepped onto Colosseum at Ariake Tennis Park on Tuesday in Tokyo. The 26-year-old had never won a match at this tournament, nor had he won a main draw match at an event above the ATP 250-level since February.

But Daniel rose to the occasion with the Japanese fans fully behind him, upsetting second seed Borna Coric 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(5) to reach the second round of the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships.

“I knew the opponent was going to be more nervous than me. Obviously he’s like, ‘I have to win, he’s a wild card,’” Daniel said. “I was just like, ‘Keep going, try and not be passive, not be too aggressive, but just try and find that balance, not make any mistakes.’ He ended up making more mistakes than I did.”

Daniel had not earned a victory against an opponent inside the Top 20 of the ATP Rankings since defeating Novak Djokovic at last year’s BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. But the World No. 127 withstood 15 Coric aces and saved four of the six break points he faced in his two-hour, 39-minute victory.

The 26-year-old, who went ahead by a mini-break on the first point of the tie-break, fell behind 2/3. But that was the last time that Daniel trailed in the match.

In the next round, the home hope will play Aussie Jordan Thompson, who battled past Argentine Juan Ignacio Londero 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 after one hour and 58 minutes. This is Thompson’s Tokyo debut.

The Aussie defeated Daniel 3-6, 7-6(6), 6-0 this year in Sydney in the pair’s only previous FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting.

Did You Know?
Daniel’s victory makes four Japanese players in the second round in Tokyo, the first time that has happened since 2003.