TOKYO: Defending champion Taylor Fritz tumbled out of the Japan Open today after a stunning second-round loss to Japanese wild card and world No. 215 Shintaro Mochizuki.
Top-seed Fritz, the highest-ranked American in the world at No. 10, lost 0-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2) to an opponent without a tour-level win to his name before this tournament.
Fritz, who has won two titles this season, looked to be cruising into the quarter-finals when he took the first set in just 29 minutes.
But the momentum shifted when Mochizuki broke his opponent midway through the second set, and the 20-year-old fought back from a losing position in the third to force a tiebreak.
Mochizuki closed the match out with a volleyed smash at the net, setting up a quarter-final match-up with Australian Alexei Popyrin, who beat Chile's Cristian Garin 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2.
Fritz's exit meant the top three seeds in Tokyo have all been eliminated, with Norwegian No. 2 Casper Ruud and German No. 3 Alexander Zverev also bowing out early.
No. 4 seed Alex de Minaur progressed to the quarter-finals with a 6-0, 7-5 win over Argentina's Diego Schwartzman.
The Australian said he was not surprised that so many of the tournament's big names had fallen by the wayside.
"We've all played a lot of matches this year and it's been a long year," said de Minaur.
"At times I feel like these are the types of tournaments that are more prone to surprises.
"I'm just happy I was able to keep my head down and play at a good level." --AFP