Felix Auger Aliassime edged past Alexander Vukic 7-6 (7-3) 6-7 (2-7) 6-2 in 2 hours and 51 minutes to reach the second round at the Kinoshita Group Japan Cup in Tokyo. Auger Aliassime hit 13 aces to Vukic’s 5.
Auger Aliassime converted his sixth break point in the seventh game of the first set to take a 4-3 lead. The Canadian player served for the set at 5-4, but he dropped his serve.
Auger Aliassime fell behind 5-6, but he fought back to force to the tie-break. He earned an early mini-break in the the tie-break. Vukic broke straight back in the second game. Auger Aliassime opened up a 4-1 lead with two mini-breaks. Vukic pulled one of the two mini-breaks. Auger Aliassime earned four set points at 6-2 and sealed the tie-break 7-3 on his second opportunity.
Vukic converted his second break point in the fifth game of the second set to take a 3-2 lead. Vukic saved six break ponts to hold serve for 4-2 at deuce. Auger Aliassime broke back in the 10th game to draw level to 5-5 before saving two break points to hold serve for 6-5. Vukic drew level to 6-6 forcing the set to another tie-break. The Australian player earned three mini-breaks to win the tie-break 7-2.
Auger Aliassime broke serve in the first game and held serve to open up a 2-0 lead. He broke again in the third game to race out to a 3-0 lead. Vukic pulled one of the two break back to reduce his deficit to 3-1. Auger Aliassime broke straight back to open up a 4-1 lead and hit an ace to hold serve for 5-1. The Canadian player served out the match at 5-2.
“It is a big relief. There have been tough times lately where I was wondering what to do. I have to keep on training and believing and I hope my level will come back. I am happy to get the victory today. It is positive”, said Auger Aliassime.
Auger Aliassime, who won twice in his past eleven matches, won 80% of points on Vukic’s second serve in the third set and converted all of his three break points in the third set. The Canadian player set up a second round match against Sebastian Ofner, who came back from one set down to beat Christopher O’Connell 6-7 (2-7) 7-6 (7-5) 6-2.
Jordan Thompson beat Alexander Zverev 6-3 6-4 to reach the second round. Thompson broke in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead and held his next service games to win the first set 6-3.
Zverev earned a break in the second game of the second set to open up a 2-0 lead. Thompson broke straight back in the third game. The Australian player earned his second game in the ninth game and served out on his third match point in the 10thgame.
Thompson scored his second win against a top 10 player this year after beating Stefanos Tsitsipas in Indian Wells last March.
Thompson will face either Ben Shelton or Japanese qualifier Taro Daniel.
“He is a quality player. You can see what he has done in his career and I have done nearly as much as him. But when I get on a court with those guys, I believe I can win. If you don’t believe you can win you may as well not be there. I enjoyed the challenge”, said Thompson.
Tommy Paul came back from one set down to beat Daniel Altmeier 3-6 6-1 6-3 on his debut at the Tokyo tournament. Paul converted four of his nine break points. The US player is currently 12th in the ATP Live Race to Turin, 560 points behind Holger Rune.
Altmeier broke twice in the seventh and ninth games to win the first set 6-3. Paul earned three breaks to seal the second set 6-1.
Paul broke in the fourth game to open up a 3-1 lead. The Australian Open semifinalist saved two break points in the seventh game before serving out on his match point in the ninth game.
Paul set up a second round match against Mackenzie McDonald, who beat Max Purcell 7-5-6-4.
US qualifier Marcos Giron saved five break points in the tie-break of the first set in his 7-6 (16-14) 4-6 6-1 win over Yoshihito Nishioka.
