Tiafoe and Shapovalov Suffer Surprising Defeats at the Japan Open
Tokyo – The Japan Open witnessed surprising defeats for Frances Tiafoe and Denis Shapovalov, who failed to overcome their respective matches in the first round of the tournament.
Frances Tiafoe, eighth seed, fell to qualifier Marton Fucsovics in a match that was decided in three sets. The American struggled with his serve, which cost him the match with scores of 3-6, 6-1 and 7-5. Frustration took hold of Tiafoe at the end of the match, and he ended up smashing his racket against the court after Fucsovics’ victory.
This defeat marks the fourth consecutive for Tiafoe, who is currently ranked number 29 in the world. The tennis player was coming off a loss in the third round of the US Open and two defeats in the Davis Cup qualifying phase this month.
In the next round, Fucsovics will face the winner of the match between Jordan Thompson and Brandon Nakashima.
For his part, Denis Shapovalov, seventh seed, was also eliminated from the tournament after losing to Daniel Altmaier with a score of 7-5 and 6-3. Altmaier will face the winner of the match between Damir Dzumhur and Aleksandar Vukic in the next round.
