Wednesday 20 June 2018 19:52, UK
Japan’s men had a mixed day at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle as Kei Nishikori crashed out in Northern Germany before Yuichi Sugita sent third seed Dominic Thiem packing.
Nishikori lost to Russia's Karen Khachanov for the second straight time in the tournament - this 6-2 6-2 defeat following his second-round exit in 2017, when the 28-year-old Japanese was forced to quit with a hip injury.
The world No 27, who reached the semi-finals here in 2014 and 2015 but also exited injured in 2016, is coming back from wrist injury problems and is working to rebuild his ranking having previously established himself firmly in the top 10.
"I made too many unforced errors, I had a lot of mistakes," said Nishikori after this latest setback.
"He was playing good, but nothing special, I couldn't make a first serve and I should have stayed back more at the baseline.
"Khachanov hits a flat ball and that makes it not so easy on grass. I need to train more before Wimbledon."
Khachanov will play Spanish fourth seed Roberto Bautista Agut in Friday's quarter-finals following his 6-4 7-5 win over Dutchman Robin Haase.
Thiem, who leads the ATP with 36 match wins this season and who finished runner-up at the French Open to Rafael Nadal earlier this month, was shocked by Sugita 6-2 7-5.
Sugita, world No 52, was unable to convert on three match points but hammered his sixth ace to claim victory on a fourth after 88 minutes.
Sugita kept up the pressure on his rival's serve, forcing the Austrian to save 10 of 13 break points before dropping serve in the last game.
"Sugita played really well, and gave me little chance to attack," said Thiem. "I was missing a few percentage points on my game.
"I was not great on returns and was struggling on serve. He completely deserved the victory."
However, he remains unconcerned with the state of his grass game after also losing in Halle in the second round a year ago before reaching a career-best Wimbledon fourth round.
"Last year I played the same as I did this year and played well at Wimbledon. I would have rather done much better.
"But margins are much tighter on grass. If you have a bad day you can't dig it out like I can on clay. If I don't play at 100 per cent - like today - the match is lost."
We have tennis coverage from the ATP Tour as Roger Federer bids for another title at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle. Watch the action live on Sky Sports Arena all this week.
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