Dominic Thiem recorded his first victory over Richard Gasquet on Tuesday at the China Open to step up his bid for a place at the Nitto ATP Finals for the fourth successive year.

The top-seeded Austrian was on-form from the get-go, striking eight aces and losing just seven of his first-service points (32/39) in a 6-4, 6-1 victory over his Frenchman opponent in 82 minutes. Thiem had lost his two previous matches against Gasquet at the 2015 Swiss Indoors Basel and the 2017 Erste Bank Open in Vienna.

“I was ready from the first point on, as I have had a lot of trouble from him in the past,” said Thiem, who will next face Chinese wild card Zhizhen Zhang. “I tried to avoid that today, I felt great from the first practice and it’s great to get my first win in Beijing. It’s one of the strongest tournaments, you can lose every match, but I was very good today.”

Should Thiem, who is next in line to qualify for the season finale, advance to this week’s final in Beijing he will confirm his place at The O2 in London from 10-17 November. So far this season, the 26-year-old has lifted silverware at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells (d. Federer), the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell (d. Medvedev) and the Generali Open in Kitzbuhel (d. Ramos-Vinolas).

Elsewhere, third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, who is currently in sixth position in the 2019 ATP Race To London, battled back from an 0-2 deficit in the third set to beat this year’s Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag champion Dusan Lajovic 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in two hours.

The 21-year-old Tsitsipas is now 39-20 on the season that includes titles at the Open 13 Provence in Marseille (d. Kukushkin) and the Millennium Estoril Open (d. Cuevas). He will now play Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili, who was a 6-4, 7-6(3) victor over Guido Pella of Argentina in one hour and 42 minutes.

Sixth seed Fabio Fognini, winner of his first ATP Masters 1000 crown at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters in April, came through a nail-biting win over Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan in two-and-a-half hours. Fognini led 6/1 in the deciding set tie-break before closing out a 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(6) victory on his sixth match point. He will now prepare to challenge Russian Andrey Rublev, who denied Grigor Dimitrov the 300th match win of his career on Monday.

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic made a victorious singles debut at the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships on Tuesday, defeating #NextGenATP Aussie Alexei Popyrin 6-4, 6-2 to reach the second round in Tokyo.

“I thought from really the beginning to the end, I played really well and on a consistent, high level and [with] good intensity,” Djokovic said.

It was a positive sign from the ATP 500 tournament’s top seed, who was competing on the singles court for the first time since retiring during his fourth-round match against Stan Wawrinka at the US Open due to a shoulder injury. The Serbian took care of his serve well, going throughout the one-hour, 29-minute encounter without facing a break point.

“Shoulder is good. I have not felt anything in the previous days, including today, in the match,” Djokovic said. “So I am very pleased to say that and to feel healthy.”

Although Popyrin had to qualify here, the 20-year-old was a dangerous opponent due to his powerful, aggressive game. At the US Open, Popyrin was a service hold away from pushing eventual semi-finalist Matteo Berrettini to a fifth set. He also defeated Dominic Thiem at this year’s Australian Open.

But Djokovic was solid throughout, striking seven aces and winning 44 per cent of his return points. The Serbian has advanced to at least the second round in all 12 tournaments he has played in this year.

“[I] had plenty of chances on his service games, also in the beginning of the first set. Played him for the first time, obviously. Young player with a big game from the back of the court, a big serve,” Djokovic said. “[I] managed to make that crucial break of serve in the first set at 4-4 that definitely helped me step it up even more. In the second set I ended up the match in a good fashion and I’m very pleased overall with the game.”

Monday was a historic one for Djokovic, marking his 271st week atop the ATP Rankings, passing Ivan Lendl (270) for third alll-time, trailing only Roger Federer (310) and Pete Sampras (286).

Djokovic will next face home favourite Go Soeda. The Japanese player had an 0-12 record in Tokyo main draws before defeating German Jan-Lennard Struff in his own tournament opener.

Did You Know?
Djokovic has won the title on his tournament main draw debut nine times previously, most recently in Eastbourne two years ago.

Andy Murray took another big step in the right direction on Tuesday at the China Open.

Eight months on from right hip surgery, the former World No. 1 battled past Nitto ATP Finals contender Matteo Berrettini 7-6(2), 7-6(7) in two hours and two minutes. Murray will next face compatriot Cameron Norrie in the second round.

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

Berrettini could not convert two set points at 6/5 and 7/6 in the second-set tie-break, when quick hands and fine volleying from Murray got him out of trouble. Berrettini had led 5-3 in the first set and 2-0 in the second set before Murray fought back en route to his highest-ranked victory since September 2018, when the Briton beat then World No. 11 David Goffin at the Shenzhen Open.

Berrettini, who has compiled a 29-8 record since 22 April, had been hoping to add valuable points in his bid to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals, to be held at The O2 in London from 10-17 November.

The 23-year-old, who is eighth in the 2019 ATP Race To London, joined fellow hope Gael Monfils—just 60 points behind the Italian in 10th position—as a first-round casualty.

Seventh seed Monfils, who competed at the season finale in 2016, suffered at the hands of American John Isner, who struck 22 aces, in a 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-3 victory over two hours and eight minutes. Monfils had led by a set and 5/3 in the second-set tie-break.

Earlier in the day, Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime got the better of Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain 6-3, 6-4 to set up a clash against second-seeded German Alexander Zverev, the defending champion at the Nitto ATP Finals, who sits 11th in the 2019 ATP Race To London.

The 13th time proved the charm for Go Soeda.

The former World No. 47 had lost all 12 of his main draw matches at the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships entering his first-round clash with German Jan-Lennard Struff on Monday at Ariake Tennis Park. But finally, at age 35, Soeda found his Tokyo breakthrough.

“I didn’t think a lot about winning in the first set or the second set, but in the final set at 4-3, 5-3, I was thinking about winning and I got really tight,” Soeda said. “I’m really happy. I didn’t win this tournament in 18 years. I was playing since 2001, so I’m very happy to win for the first time here.”

In four of Soeda’s 12 opening-round losses here, the home favourite battled his way to a deciding set. But he was never able to find a way through. It wasn’t that Soeda had not enjoyed success on the ATP Tour — he made the semi-finals in Chennai and Atlanta in 2012 — but Soeda could never solve the Tokyo puzzle.

But the joy of victory was well worth the wait, especially considering he has his two-year-old son, Mito, with him at this ATP 500 event. Shortly after his triumph, Soeda was able to see him.

“After the match he said, ‘You are so cool!’” Soeda recalled. “So I’m really happy. I don’t know if he’ll remember or not, but it’s cool.

“It’s very special, very positive now. I can’t bring them every week, but this week especially is very special [to have my family here].”

This was Soeda’s first win at an ATP Tour tournament since 2015 Washington.

“It’s a long time, four years. But I’m very happy to win here. My Ranking isn’t so high, but I’m trying. [My] confidence was a little down, but I’m trying every year. Maybe coming next year, my confidence is coming back. I hope next year it’s the Top 100,” Soeda said. “Maybe I played too much in Challengers and then win or lose and then I’m thinking too much for four or five years. I need to change from now and hope next year to play 250 or 500s more and if I win, it’s very good… Now I’m feeling like Top 90, 80, so I’m hoping to get to the Top 100.”

Soeda could get a huge opportunity in the second round if he plays top seed Novak Djokovic. It would be his first meeting against a World No. 1. Ironically, Soeda is 0-12 against Top 10 opposition.

The highest-ranked player he has previously faced is World No. 2 Rafael Nadal, and that came in Tokyo eight years ago.

“I want to play him. I’ve never played against a World No. 1. So if I play him, I’ll be really happy. I’ll try my best like the Japanese rugby team,” Soeda said of his nation’s rugby team, which upset powerhouse Ireland on Sunday. “I’m really excited. That time I played Nadal, I was really nervous. Maybe next time, too, but I really enjoy to play [against the top players].”

It’s been a banner week for Japanese tennis, with four players from the country reaching the second round. One of them is Yasutaka Uchiyama, who defeated third seed Benoit Paire on Tuesday. He was excited to see Soeda have his moment in the hometown spotlight.

“I was happy, too, because he’s a great friend of mine. I celebrated with him after the match and I’m really happy,” Uchiyama said. “He was playing amazing. He was playing really good at the baseline. At the end of the match, I think he controlled the game.”

Even though Soeda is 35, he feels he has plenty of tennis left in him. And more than two hours after his victory on Monday, fans were still shouting from the top of the Colosseum down to the player area where Soeda was soaking in the moment with his loved ones.

“I really enjoy to play now, more than before,” Soeda said. “I’m feeling my technique is better than before because I think about tennis. I really enjoy it now.”

Entering the year, Yasutaka Uchiyama had beaten just one Top 50 opponent in his career. But after upsetting Benoit Paire on Tuesday, the Japanese player owns two Top 25 victories.

Uchiyama, a qualifier, ousted the fourth seed 6-2, 6-2 to reach the second round of the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships, joining countryman Go Soeda in the second round. Uchiyama’s only previous main draw victory in Tokyo came against Croat Franko Skugor two years ago.

“Of course I’m happy after winning the first round,” Uchiyama said. “But at the same time, I don’t want to feel happy too much. I want to focus on the next round. I’m happy for now, and then I want to focus on tomorrow.”

The World No. 136, who is at his career-high ATP Ranking, needed just 54 minutes to advance after also winning in straight sets in both of his qualifying matches. Uchiyama lost only two first-serve points (22/24) in the match, breaking 2015 Tokyo finalist Paire’s serve on four of the six opportunities he earned.

“I played very good service games again today. I didn’t drop my serve and that was the key,” Uchiyama said. “I had just a few chances to break him. I think he felt a little bit frustrated with the return games, and that was a key.”

Uchiyama carried momentum into his home tournament after winning his first ATP Challenger Tour title of the year earlier this month in Shanghai. In January, the Japanese made his first ATP Tour quarter-final in Brisbane, where he upset Brit Kyle Edmund.

Uchiyama will look to continue his Tokyo run against Moldovan Radu Albot or Serbian Filip Krajinovic.

Dominic Thiem this week controls his destiny when it comes to qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals for the fourth consecutive year. Thiem will book his return ticket to The O2 in London if he reaches the China Open final in Beijing.

The 23-year-old Austrian is currently in fifth place in the ATP Race To London, with 3,845 points, and next in line to qualify for the season-ending championships, to be held 10-17 November. The top four players in the Race – Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Daniil Medvedev – have already secured their places. In Beijing, the top-seeded Thiem opens against Richard Gasquet, who leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 2-0.

Stefanos Tsitsipas, last year’s Next Gen ATP Finals champion, is in sixth place in the Race (3,160 points) and also will be looking to bolster his qualification prospects in China. The 20-year-old Greek is seeking his maiden London appearance and needs to make the semi-finals to be able to add any points to his Race tally.

Only 315 points separate seventh place and 12^th place in the Race, meaning plenty of players could make moves this week with 500 points up for grabs in Tokyo and Beijing, respectively.

Seventh-placed Roberto Bautista Agut (2,395 points) is the fifth seed in Beijing and faces American Sam Querrey. Bautista Agut is seeking his debut showing in London and will add Race points if he makes the quarter-finals.

Eighth-placed Matteo Berrettini (2,185 points) meets former World No. 1 Andy Murray in Beijing as the Italian looks to continue to build off his US Open semi-final run. Berrettini will add points to his Race tally if he beats Murray.

Ninth-placed Kei Nishikori (2,180) is nursing an injured elbow, but Gael Monfils (10^th, 2,125), reigning champion Alexander Zverev (11^th, 2,120) and 2017 finalist David Goffin (12^th, 2,080) all have opportunities to make up ground this week.

Monfils faces John Isner in Beijing. The second-seeded Zverev, after beating Frances Tiafoe in his opener, will face #NextGenATP Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime or Spain’s Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the second round. Zverev needs to make the quarter-finals to be able to improve his Race position.

And Goffin, the 2017 Tokyo champion, will play Chengdu Open champion Pablo Carreno Busta in round one in Japan. Goffin will add points if he beats the Spaniard.

Novak Djokovic says his shoulder is “fine”, and he’s ready to continue his climb up the all-time list of most weeks spent at No. 1 in the ATP Rankings this week at the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships in Tokyo.

On Monday, Djokovic (271 weeks) passed Ivan Lendl (270) for third place on the all-time leaderboard. Now only Djokovic’s childhood idol, Pete Sampras (286), and all-time leader Roger Federer (310) remain in front of the Serbian.

“I understand why people want to talk about record-breaking, but I feel like we all have our own path, and we all have different careers and just different journeys through life and through tennis,” Djokovic said.

“I want to be able to build my own path and build my own legacy and focus on that rather than breaking someone else’s record. Of course, I care about history. Of course, I want to be the best I can possibly be in the history of this sport. But again, my main attention or focus goes to fuelling my own journey and creating my own legacy.”

Djokovic is making his debut at the ATP 500 event and is attempting to become the 11^th World No. 1 to win the Tokyo title.

“I’m excited to be in Tokyo,” he said. “I’ll hopefully get a chance to see a little bit of this country… and get to know the culture that I respect a lot and has some wonderful things that have been exported outside of this country and around the world.”

The Serbian has already experienced some of Japanese culture as he practised sumo wrestling on Monday.

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“I have to say that I’m very impressed with the way people treat each other and how nice they are, how humble they are, simple and kind. I feel very welcomed in Tokyo,” Djokovic said. “This is a really big tournament, a very successful tournament historically, so I look forward to hopefully having a successful singles week this week.”

Djokovic is battling Rafael Nadal to finish as the year-end No. 1 for a record-equalling sixth time (2011-12, ’14-15, ’18). Nadal currently leads Djokovic by 1,960 points in the ATP Race To London with only five weeks remaining in the ATP Tour regular season.

The 32-year-old Djokovic last competed at the US Open, retiring from his fourth-round match against Swiss Stan Wawrinka down two sets to zero because of a left shoulder injury. But Djokovic, who also played doubles on Monday, said he’s ready for a full week.

“I wanted to see how [my shoulder] feels during the matchplay. Obviously doubles is quite different from singles. But you’re still playing an official match, so you still feel the nerves and you battle on the court,” Djokovic said. “It’s quite different from playing a practice set or anything in practice, really.

“It seems like my shoulder is fine,” said Djokovic, who faces Aussie qualifier Alexei Popyrin in his opener. “I’m hoping that that’s going to be the case this week as well for singles.”

Alexander Zverev stepped up his bid to clinch a place at the Nitto ATP Finals, where he is the defending champion, by sweeping into the China Open second round on Monday.

The second-seeded German beat American wild card Frances Tiafoe for the fifth time in six FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings 6-3, 6-2 in 70 minutes.

Zverev is currently in 11th position in the 2019 ATP Race To London, but only 65 points behind eighth-placed Italian Matteo Berrettini (2,185 points), with five weeks left in the regular ATP Tour season. Four singles spots are left for the season finale, to be held at The O2 in London from 10-17 November.

With a strong service performance, Zverev recorded his 35th match win of the year by breaking Tiafoe for 3-1 lead in the first set and in the third and fifth games of the second set. He will next play Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime or Spain’s Albert Ramos-Vinolas.

Elsewhere, there were mixed fortunes for two British players. Chinese wild card Zhizhen Zhang knocked out last year’s semi-finalist Kyle Edmund 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(5), but Daniel Evans beat wild card Zhe Li 6-3, 6-4. Qualifier Cameron Norrie progressed when leading 7-6(5), 1-0 when Cristian Garin retired due to a right ankle injury.