TOKYO, 17 Oct: Top-seeded Taylor Fritz and second-seeded Casper Ruud both won their opening matches Tuesday at the Japan Open.
Fritz beat 18th-ranked Cameron Norrie 6-4, 6-3 and Ruud defeated wild-card entry Yosuke Watanuki 7-6 (8), 6-3.
Fritz, ranked 10th in the world, had 13 aces and broke Norrie three times to improve to 7-6 against the British player.
The 25-year-old American will next play Japanese wild-card Shintaro Mochi-zuki, who beat Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-4, 7-6 (5).
Ruud will next face American player Marcus Giron.
Other winners included Alex de Minaur, Alexei Popyrin, Ben Shelton, Cristian Garin and Diego Schwatzman.
Jiangxi Open
Top-seeded Beatriz Haddad-Maia and second-seeded Magda Linette were both eliminated in the first round of the Jiangxi Open.
Nao Hibino upset Haddad-Maia 7-6 (2), 6-3, while Valeria Savinykh beat Linette 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (3).
Sixth-seeded Anna Blinkova also lost, falling to Chinese qualifier You Xiaodi 6-1, 6-1, while Hong Kong Open winner Leylah Fernandez defeated wild-card Guo Hanyu 6-1, 6-3.
Other winners included Aliaksandra Sasnovich, Varvara Gravach and Ulrikke Eikeri. (PTI)