Zaden Taylor Fritz (no. 2) and Casper Ruud (no. 4) will be looking for a quarterfinals on the ATP Tokyo 500 on Friday. Fritz will continue his campaign against Nuno Borges, while Ruud fights against Matteo Berrettini.
(4) Casper Ruud vs. Matteo Berrettini
On the way to the Japan openBerrettini plagued by injuries had only played two games since the Clay-Court Swing and had not won a match since the Rome Masters at the beginning of May. The 56th rank Italian immediately lost at Wimbledon (in five sets to Kamil Majchrzak) and last week in Hangzhou (6-3, 6-3 to Dalibor SVRCina). But in the end Berrettini found his game and Jaume Munar 6-4, 6-2 on Wednesday.
Standing in Berrettini’s way of the last eight on Friday is Ruud, who leads the head-to-head series 5-3. Berrettini has won two of their three -hard matches, but they have not confronted each other on this surface since January 2023. Although Ruud does not play particularly well, he managed to compile a 2-1 record at the Laver Cup (1-0 in Singles, 1-1 in doubles) and he double Beldsticked Shintaro Mochizuki in the round of the first set 6-4. Asking this current version of Berrettini to deliver a second consecutive impressive performance is probably too much, so this must go to the fourth placed Norwegian.
Pick: Ruud in 2
Nuno Borges vs. (2) Taylor Fritz
Fritz made a quick change from Laver Cup Heroics in San Francisco for Team World and has passed a tough day at the office in his Tokyo opener. The world no. 5 managed to fight Gabriel Diallo 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3) on Thursday. Fritz admitted that he had a shortage of energy because of both jet lag and a much less noisy atmosphere for what could be seen last weekend.
Next for the 27-year-old American on Friday is a second meeting with Borges. Their only earlier meeting came on the Delray Beach Tournament from 2024, where Fritz got the job with 7-6 (5), 6-4. Borges played his opening game in Tokyo on Wednesday and Yosuke Watanuki overweer 2-6, 6-4, 6-1. The World No. 51 from Portugal is a solid player, but he does not have the firepower with which Fritz can hurt. The second seed of Tokyo should feel better than he did on Thursday with a competition that is already under his belt – if he is, this will probably be a simple result.
Pick: Fritz in 2
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