Denis Shapovalov of Canada adjusts his cap during his men’s singles second round match against Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka at the Japan Open tennis championships in Tokyo on October 3, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA
Canada’s Denis Shapovalov dropped the first set to veteran Stan Wawrinka but rallied to a 4/6; 6/1; 6/4 victory on Centre Court to set up a quarter-final match with Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff who prevailed over France’s Jeremy Chardy in a marathon that ended 7/6 (3); 6/7 (2); 6/4.
The lanky man continued his run after outlasting the top seeded Marin Cilic 7/6(3); 6/7(2); 6/4, to leave second seeded Kevin Anderson of South Africa, the highest ranked player in the draw.
One single break of serve gave Wawrinka the first set, but a string of unforced errors resulted in a one-sided second set for the Canadian southpaw. The third set was a reverse of the first.
In other second round matches, Kei Nishikori defeated Benoit Paire of France 6/3; 7/5 and will face Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas, who was close to victory in the second set but was taken to a rubber before defeating Australia’s Alex de Minaur 6/3;5/7; 6/1.
Milos Raonic of Canada defeated crowd hopeful Yosuke Watanuke, 6/3; 7/6(2) to set up a quarter-final battle with Russia’s Daniil Medvedev, who defeated Martin Klissan of Slovakia, 6/4; 6/2.
In the 32-player field, the second seeded Kevin Anderson will take on American Frances Tiafoe, while Australia’s Nick Kyrgios will play against Richard Gasquet of France for the remaining two spots in the quarter-finals.
At the National Tennis Stadium in Beijing, top-seeded Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina defeated Russia’s Karen Khachanov 6/4; 7/694) to set a quarter-final with Serbia’s Filip Krajinovic, who achieved an upset over Feliciano Lopez of Spain 7/6(5); 6/3.
Great Britain’s Kyle Edmund had a quick 6/2; 6/3 victory over Matteo Berrettini of Italy and will take on Dusan Lajovic of Serbia who sent out the third seeded Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria, 6/4; 2/6; 6/4.
On the Lotus Court, Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics defeated Italian Marco Cecchinato 6/4; 6/2 and will take on the winner of the match between Georgia’s Nikoloz Basilashvilli and Spain’s Fernando Verdasco.
The tournaments in Beijing and Tokyo are running concurrently.
Assured of a place in London are world Number one Rafael Nadal (with 8760 ranking points), Roger Federer (6900) and Novak Djokovic, who trails Federer closely with 6445 points. The three skipped the Asian circuit.
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