Japanese wild card Shintaro Mochizuki continued his dream run on the Kinoshita Group Japan Open Tennis Championships on Thursday when he surprised World No. 10 Taylor Fritz 0-6, 6-4, 7-6(2) to succeed in the quarter-finals.
The 20-year-old rallied from 2-5 within the third set, breaking Fritz’s serve to like when the American was attempting to shut out. Roared on by vocal house assist, Mochizuki then raced to a 3/0 lead within the tie-break earlier than sealing victory on his first match level after two hours and three minutes.
“I do not actually know what is going on proper now,” Mochizuki mentioned. “I misplaced the primary set really easy, so fast. Everybody is aware of he is a superb participant however I saved preventing and that’s all I might do. I’m so comfortable. I do not understand how, however I received the match.
“I used to be a bit nervous in the beginning, not swinging. I used to be scared to overlook. Then I attempted to overlook about every little thing and simply began taking part in my recreation from the second set and that’s the way it went.”
FIRST TOP 10 WIN 💙@ShintaroMOCHIZU stuns the No. 1 seed, Taylor Fritz, 0-6 6-4 7-6, to safe his place within the Tokyo quarter-finals! ⚡️@japanopentennis | #kinoshitajptennis pic.twitter.com/LCqHRMTIzH
— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 19, 2023
The Japanese star, who earned his maiden tour-level win within the first spherical in opposition to Tomas Martin Etcheverry, is the second Japanese participant to defeat a Prime 10 participant this yr. Taro Daniel beat then-World No. 4 Casper Ruud in Acapulco.
Stuffed with emotion, Mochizuki took within the assist of the gang following his gorgeous win in opposition to Fritz. He’ll subsequent play Alexei Popyrin after the Australian overcame Cristian Garin. Earlier this yr Mochizuki received an ATP Challenger Tour occasion in Barletta, Italy. He’s up 47 locations to No. 168 within the Pepperstone ATP Dwell Rankings, whereas he’s twenty second within the Pepperstone ATP Dwell Race To Jeddah.
Fritz is at the moment ninth within the Pepperstone ATP Dwell Race To Turin, 145 factors behind eighth-placed Holger Rune, who occupies the ultimate qualification spot. Alex de Minaur (thirteenth) and Tommy Paul (twelfth), can each overtake Fritz with title runs in Tokyo.