Wawrinka beats Fritz 6-3 6-4 and will play Shapovalov next
Tuesday 2 October 2018 13:04, UK
Top seed Marin Cilic crashed out of the Japan Open in a shock defeat to Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff in the first round on Tuesday.
The former US Open champion looked to be in complete control after pocketing the first set with a brutal drive volley, but things quickly unravelled for the Croatian when Struff suddenly caught fire and claimed a 3-6 6-4 7-6 (7-1) triumph.
After Struff, ranked a whopping 50 places below Cilic at No 56 in the world, had levelled the match, normal service appeared to have resumed in the deciding set.
Cilic, who reached the final of this year's Australian Open, broke for 3-2 with a backhand that dipped viciously onto Struff's toes, but the German struck back - not once, but twice - to force a tiebreak.
Struff smashed the breaker, taking it 7-1 with his ninth ace to complete the upset after two hours, 18 minutes.
He next plays Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, who edged a war of attrition with Bosnian Damir Dzumhur 4-6 6-3 6-3.
Earlier, three-time Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka beat Taylor Fritz 6-3, 6-4 while eighth seed Richard Gasquet also advanced, the Frenchman ousting another American, Denis Kudla, 7-6 6-3.
Frances Tiafoe restored some pride for the United States by beating Germany's Maximilian Marterer 7-5 6-4 while Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas claimed a 6-1 6-3 success over Japan's Taro Daniel.
Cilic's demise will boost Kei Nishikori's hopes of winning a third Japan Open crown after the local favourite won the tournament in 2012 and 2014.
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Tennis is back on Sky Sports screens with the Japan Open & China Open in October while we will also have coverage of the ATP Finals in November with every match live on Sky Sports.
