Marin Cilic looked impressive in Tokyo today as he cruised past Greek talent Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3 6-2 to advance to the second round at the Rakuten Japan Open.
The World number five broke four times as he picked apart his inexperienced opponent to make the second round. Tsitsipas’s decision making was rather rushed at times as the big serving and big hitting of Cilic was too much for the 20 year old qualifier. The tall Croatian only lost five points on his first serve as he cruised to his 35th victory of 2017 in 1 hour and 13 minutes.
He will now play Japanese wildcard Yasutaka Uchiyama in the second round after he beat doubles specialist Franko Skugor 6-3 3-6 6-1. The world number 214 used his craft and skill to neutralise the serve of Skugor as he prevented an all Croatian clash in the second round.
Another big name into the second round is US Open runner-up, Kevin Anderson. The tall South African beat Gilles Simon 6-2 7-6(6) in his first match back from his incredible run in New York. Anderson didn’t face a single break point in the match as he dictated play in comfortable fashion as he moved into the second round in Japan’s capital city.
He will now play Ryan Harrison, who managed to avoid a humiliating defeat to 19 year old Yusuke Takahashi. The American who has had an amazing season on the doubles circuit, beat the world number 262 6-4 4-6 6-4 in just over 2 hours to progress in Tokyo.
However Albert Ramos-Vinolas wasn’t able to keep up the good form for the seeded players as he was ousted out of the tournament by Jiri Vesely. The Czech Republican beat the 7th seed 6-2 2-6 6-3 in a magnificent performance as he moved to a 30-24 record in 2017. He will now play Adrian Mannarino who continued some great form with a 7-5 7-6(3) win over Japan’s Go Soeda. The Frenchman served up 10 aces to seal his passage into the last 16.
Finally, Bernard Tomic shockingly won a tennis match. The controversial Australian, who can be unmotivated at times beat Joao Sousa 6-3 3-6 6-3 to move into the second round. It is Tomic’s first victory since June, where he beat Mischa Zverev in Eastbourne. He will play Donald Young or Diego Schwartzman in the second round.
