Struff upsets Cilic in Tokyo

It took over two hours, but German player Jan-Lennard Struff caused a major upset in the Japan Open by dumping the top seed, Marin Cilic, in the opening round.  It was only the second time that Struff had beaten an opponent ranked in the top ten.

Cilic started well enough, winning about three quarters of points on both his first and second serves in set one. He saved all three break points faced, and returned the Struff serve with great effect.

A single break of serve and Cilic led 6-3.

Struff turned it around in set two, handling the Croatian second serve better, and converting the only break point opportunity presented him.  Cilic couldn’t use the two chances handed his way, and thus lost the set.

The decider saw Cilic ahead by a break, and he served twice for the match.  However, he failed on both occasions.  Struff savaged the Cilic second serve, winning 16 of the 19 points played when the first delivery missed.

A tie break was forced, and Struff breezed through, losing just one point, taking the match 3-6 6-4 7-6(1)

Other ATP Tokyo first round results 

• Jérémy Chardy defeated Damir Dzumhur 4-6 6-3 6-3
• Stan Wawrinka defeated Taylor Fritz 6-3 6-4
• Stefanos Tsitsipas (5) defeated wildcard Taro Daniel 6-1 6-3
• Richard Gasquet (8) defeated qualifier Denis Kudla 7-6(8) 6-3
• Frances Tiafoe defeated Maximilian Marterer 7-5 6-4

WTA Beijing second round results 

• Sloane Stephens (9) defeated wildcard Saisai Zheng 6-1 6-3
• Dominika Cibulková defeated Dasha Gavrilova 6-3 6-3
• Angie Kerber (3) defeated Carla Suárez Navarro 7-6(4) 6-1
• Naomi Osaka (8) defeated Danielle Collins 6-1 6-0
• Wildcard Qiang Wang defeated Jelena Ostapenko (12) 6-0 6-0
• Aryna Sabalenka defeated Garbiñe Muguruza (14) 7-5 6-4
• Caroline Garcia (4) defeated qualifier Polona Hercog 7-6(2) 6-3
• Qualifier Katerina Siniakova defeated Aleksandra Krunic 7-6(2) 6-2
• Kiki Bertens (11) defeated Kirsten Flipkens 6-1 6-1
• Anett Kontaveit defeated Laura Siegemund 2-6 6-3 6-2

ATP Beijing first round results 

• Juan Martin del Potro (1) defeated Albert Ramos-Vinolas 7-5 6-2
• Filip Krajinovic defeated Mischa Zverev 6-1 6-4
• Fabio Fognini (4) defeated qualifier Radu Albot 1-6 6-3 6-3
• Andrey Rublev defeated João Sousa 6-0 6-4
• Marco Cecchinato (8) defeated wildcard Marcos Baghdatis 1-6 6-4 7-5
• Qualifier Matteo Berrettini defeated Leonardo Mayer 6-3 6-2
• Grigor Dimitrov (3) defeated lucky loser Tennys Sandgren 7-5 6-3
• Nikoloz Basilashvili defeated Jack Sock (6) 6-7(6) 7-5 6-2
• Fernando Verdasco defeated Gaël Monfils 2-6 7-6(3) 7-6(5)
• Sascha Zverev (2) defeated Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4 6-4