Wild card Taro Daniel defeated Jordan Thompson on Thursday to join qualifier Yasutaka Uchiyama in the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships quarter-finals, marking the first time since 1972 that two Japanese players have accomplished the feat. For former Japanese ATP Tour star Shuzo Matsuoka, it has been a long time coming.

“I’m always dreaming [of this]. That’s why I started helping with the juniors 20 years ago,” said Matsuoka, who runs a Japanese camp for kids ranging in age from 10 to 18. “All the men’s tennis [in Japan] is coming together like one. Even 10-year-olds to Davis Cup players, the whole team is on one street. This is the biggest weapon for us. We have to keep going on like this.”

Before Kei Nishikori, Matsuoka was the biggest star in Japanese tennis. Matsuoka was so big that ‘Project 45’ was tagged to Nishikori to inspire him and other Japanese players to try to surpass Matsuoka’s career-high ATP Ranking of No. 46, which he set in July 1992.

So it was inspiring for Matsuoka to see four Japanese players reach the second round of this ATP 500 event, the first time that had been done since 2003, when there was a 48-player draw compared to today’s 32. Matsuoka made only one quarter-final from 13 tries at this event.

The two Japanese through to the last eight — Daniel and Uchiyama — have followed different paths. Daniel, who has climbed as high as World No. 64, won an ATP Tour title last year in Istanbul and has defeated Novak Djokovic. Now 26, he first cracked the Top 100 of the ATP Rankings when he was only 22.

“I’ve been telling him from [the] first year [I knew him], you have a chance to be at least Top 30, but you have to play big,” Daniel said. “He can run, but when he just pushes balls back, you can be maybe Top 100, but that’s it: a Challenger player. Now he’s playing ATP Tour tennis.”

As Daniel himself admitted, he did not arrive in Tokyo with much momentum. In his previous five tournaments, he made four ATP Challenger Tour quarter-finals and lost in the first round of US Open qualifying. And Matsuoka believes that after falling in Flushing Meadows, a switch went off.

“I know he was growing up in Spain and I was saying to him that, ‘You will have a big tennis.’ He is very tall, strong, but he was just playing so far back, very close to the umpires. He has to get in and he’s tried to change. But especially this year, he lost his mind, especially after the US Open,” Matsuoka said. “After that he really had to change his tennis and be more aggressive and enjoy. [He] won [his] first round and got lots of confidence. The way he plays now, he can be tough.”

After upsetting second seed Borna Coric in the first round, Daniel said he did not have high expectations entering the week. But against Thompson, he began to feel more nerves as his own expectations grew.

“I think it’s a big deal for the Japanese people, especially two Japanese [making the quarter-finals] without Kei. It’s a pretty rare occasion, obviously,” Daniel said. “Tennis-level wise, I think it’s not that surprising, but when Japanese guys do this in Japan, it’s a special occasion.”

Although this is a special moment for Daniel, he has been under the spotlight before. Uchiyama is a year older, but at a career-high No. 136, he is first finding his stride. The Japanese made his first ATP Tour quarter-final in Brisbane this year and won a Challenger crown in Shanghai last month.

To Matusoka, Uchiyama’s success has been a long time coming.

“I’ve known him since he’s 10. He’s a great player. He’s tall, strong. But he didn’t have a strong mentality… finally he realised that he has to change. This is the first time, he’s changed his life. His tennis and his life are going to change for sure,” Matsuoka said. “When [he came to my] camp, he was so negative. Every time he said, ‘I cannot do this.’ It’s amazing the negative things. So I made him go back home twice and his mother came to me and he was crying he didn’t want to go back.

“If he can make it, he can start playing good tennis and be a good player, a singles player. I’ve been telling him, ‘You should play only doubles. Your personality, your attitude and your mental [game], you’re not for singles. I always said that to him.’ He said to me, ‘Shuzo, I can play the singles.’ You can see it. He was coming back and this is the first time he made it.”

Uchiyama lifted the doubles title in Tokyo two years ago alongside countryman Ben McLachlan. But this is the first time he is into an ATP 500 quarter-final.

“He’s always been a guy who I’ve always wondered why his [ATP] Ranking has been a little bit lower than he should be, because whenever I practise with him, I feel like he’s really good,” Daniel said. “So finally he’s starting to step into where he should be playing. I’m glad to see him doing well.”

Even though Daniel and Uchiyama are in the middle of a historic run, Nishikori has redefined expectations from the home fans. The Japanese icon has ascended as high as World No. 4 and lifted the Tokyo trophy twice, in 2012 and 2014.

“It’s a little bit different because when I was playing, there was no one near the Top 100 except me, so all the attention came on me. But now, it’s Kei. They are happy to win maybe the first round, maybe the second round. It’s an unbelievable thing [to make it to] the quarter-finals,” Matusoka said. “Kei is winning, he’s won a couple times over here, so they always compare with Kei. The other Japanese players have it very tough. When it was [my] time, if this was happening, it’s amazing, all newspapers it’d maybe be the first page. But now with Kei, it’s a little bit different.”

Neither player’s run is over yet. On Friday, Daniel will face John Millman and Uchiyama will play Reilly Opelka, both of whom are unseeded. Based on their performances so far this week, there’s no reason to believe that the Japanese can’t continue making history.

“For Japanese tennis, it’s the biggest thing in a couple years,” Matsuoka said. “We still have a chance with good draws, so we hope they keep going.”

Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo recorded their sixth straight victory at the China Open on Thursday, beating Mao-Xin Gong and Ze Zhang 6-1, 7-5 to reach the semi-finals.

The defending champions claimed 82 per cent of first-serve points (27/33) and did not face a break point to advance after 68 minutes. The Polish-Brazilian duo, who haven’t dropped a set this week, will face Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev for a place in the championship match.

Ivan Dodig and Filip Polasek also reached the last four in Beijing. The Cincinnati champions converted four of six break points to overcome Fabio Fognini and Dominic Thiem 6-4, 6-4.

Seeds Fall In Tokyo Quarter-finals
Lucas Pouille and Jan-Lennard Struff saved one match point to beat third seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury 3-6, 6-4, 11-9 and book their place in the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships semi-finals.

The unseeded pairing trailed 8/9 in the Match Tie-break before winning three straight points to confirm a semi-final clash against Nikola Mektic and Franko Skugor. The Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters titlists edged Rohan Bopanna and Denis Shapovalov 6-4, 5-7, 11-9.

Dominic Inglot and Austin Krajicek grabbed the last remaining semi-final spot on Colosseum, beating fourth seeds Mate Pavic and Bruno Soares 7-6(6), 7-6(6). The Atlanta winners saved all four break points they faced and will meet second seeds Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin for a spot in the championship match.

Did You Know?
Struff is aiming to capture his second straight Tokyo crown. The German also lifted the trophy last year alongside two-time champion Ben McLachlan.

Third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas ended Nikoloz Basilashvili’s hopes of retaining the China Open title on Thursday with a hard-fought 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 second-round victory in Beijing.

Tsitsipas, who will face American John Isner on Friday, is now the fifth player in 2019 to record 40 tour-level match wins, following in the footsteps of Daniil Medvedev (54), Rafael Nadal (48), Roger Federer (45) and Novak Djokovic (43).

The 21-year-old Tsitsipas did not add any points to his 2019 ATP Race To London tally with victory over Basilashvili, but he is in a strong position to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals, to be held at The O2 in London from 10-17 November. Tsitsipas, the 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals champion, is in sixth position on 3,160 points.

Basilashvili came through a tight opening set — hitting 17 winners and 17 unforced errors. The Georgian also saved six break points with an element of luck.

It wasn’t until the fourth game of the second set that Tsitsipas finally made the breakthrough on his 12th break point when Basilashvili, who struck five of his nine double faults in the game, fired a forehand wide.

While Tsitsipas saved one break point for a 4-1 advantage, the 21-year-old carried the momentum and from 5-3 in the second set he won three straight games. A third service break came in the seventh game of the decider.

Basilashvili committed 32 unforced errors in the second and third sets of the pair’s second FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting (also 2019 Australian Open), which lasted two hours and eight minutes.

The first three times Hyeon Chung played former World No. 3 Marin Cilic, he did not win a set. But on Thursday evening in Tokyo, Chung flipped the script, and denied the Croat a milestone achievement.

Chung finished strong against Cilic for a 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 victory, reaching the quarter-finals of the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships after two hours and two minutes. The South Korean also denied Cilic his 500th tour-level win in the process.

“I’m just really happy because this is one of the best wins in my career so far. It was a really tough match against one of the best players in the world,” Chung said. “I’m just trying to enjoy every point.”

Facing Cilic was a special challenge for Chung, who had not played the sixth seed since 2016 Brisbane. Cilic rallied to force a decider and then used two big first serves to save two break points in the first game of the third set. But Chung kept battling to break for a 1-0 lead, and he never relinquished that advantage.

“We played a few times before, but I never beat him in one set, so I was just trying to do my best,” Chung said. “He’s also a nice guy on and off the court, so I’m just trying to follow him all the time and I’m happy to win tonight.”

Chung struck 11 aces and won 90 per cent of his first-serve points (37/41), earning 53 per cent of his return points in the third set.

“I think it was good serving and I think I played good from the baseline,” Chung said. “I’m just trying to stay calm all the time.”

The former World No. 19, who won the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals in 2017, struggled for much of this season with a back injury. But Chung will now face 2017 Tokyo titlist David Goffin for a spot in his first ATP Tour semi-final since 2018 Munich. The Belgian has won two of their three FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings.

“He’s really one of the best players in the world,” Chung said. “We know how to play each other because we practised many times and we played a few matches, so I’m just trying to do my best tomorrow.”

John Isner hit 21 aces to advance to the China Open quarter-finals on Thursday with a 7-6(3), 7-5 win over Briton Daniel Evans in one hour and 51 minutes.

With his 28th match win of the year, Isner added 45 points to join 15th-placed Swiss Stan Wawrinka on 1,670 points in the 2019 ATP Race To London. Four of the eight singles berths remains up for grabs at the Nitto ATP Finals.

The 34-year-old American will next challenge third-seeded Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, who is also vying to compete at The O2 in London from 10-17 November, or defending champion Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia.

Isner, a 2010 semi-finalist in Beijing, recovered from 15/40 at 4-4 in the first set. He broke clear of Evans at 3/3 in the tie-break by winning four straight points. As pressure mounted on Evans’ serve in the second set, the World No. 48 was broken in the 11th game.

Evans had beaten the American en route to his first ATP Tour final at the Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com (l. to Albot) in February.

Third seed David Goffin has proven tough to beat in Tokyo, walking onto Colosseum at Ariake Tennis Park Thursday with a 10-1 record at the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships. And despite some moments of brilliance, #NextGenATP Canadian Denis Shapovalov could not find a way in the key moments to change that.

Goffin, the 2017 Tokyo champion, defeated Shapovalov 7-6(5), 7-6(2) after one hour and 57 minutes to reach the quarter-finals at this ATP 500 event for the third time in three appearances. In 2016, the Belgian made the final before losing to Aussie Nick Kyrgios.

“It was tough. He was serving really well and I knew it’d be long sets with some tie-breaks. I tried to break him during the whole match, I didn’t, but I served really well. We were both really solid on our service games and during the tie-breaks I played very well,” Goffin said. “I’m really happy about my performance because it was a good fight.”

There were no breaks of serve in the battle, with Goffin saving the two break points he faced and Shapovalov staving off the four opportunities he confronted. But 2017 Nitto ATP Finals runner-up Goffin won six of the first seven points in the first-set tie-breaks and the first six points of the second-set tie-break to gain insurmountable leads against the shotmaking 20-year-old.

Shapovalov showed plenty of fight, coming from 1/6 in the first-set tie-break to 5/6. But the dynamic lefty dug himself holes too deep to climb out of. And Goffin continued his pursuit of a fifth ATP Tour title.

Goffin, who became the first Belgian to reach an ATP Masters 1000 final in Cincinnati, is into his seventh tour-level quarter-final of 2019. He will next play 2017 Next Gen ATP Finals champion Hyeon Chung, who upset sixth seed Marin Cilic 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.

“Today I think I was a little bit better. But he was serving so well, lefty, serving everywhere, great second serve as well, so it was tough to break him today,” Goffin said of Shapovalov. “I had to fight, but I was playing much better today.”

Shapovalov has also performed well in Tokyo, making the semi-finals last year on his debut. But the Canadian could not reach the quarter-finals for the second consecutive week after making the last four last week in Chengdu.

Did You Know?
Goffin is trying to finish inside the year-end Top 20 of the ATP Rankings for the fourth time in five years. Last year, the Belgian completed his season as World No. 22.

Aussie John Millman reached his second ATP 500 quarter-final of the year on Thursday, defeating South African Lloyd Harris 6-3, 6-2 in just 69 minutes to make the last eight at the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships.

“I was really happy with how I played. I knew Lloyd was going to have a tough backup. That match yesterday, I watched,” Millman said. “Obviously I’m a massive admirer of fellow countryman Alex de Minaur [whom Lloyd beat] and I watched that game and it was so physical, so I really wanted to reduce those unforced errors, make Lloyd have to work for every single point and try to neutralise that serve, because we know it’s a cannon.”

Millman has found good form over the past month. The 30-year-old advanced to the quarter-finals in Winston-Salem and won an ATP Challenger Tour trophy in Kaohsiung. Although he has lost in the first round twice during that span, those defeats came against eventual US Open champion Rafael Nadal and Zhuhai winner Alex de Minaur.

“I got to play a match here [on Colosseum] in qualifying against Tatsuma, so I kind of knew what to expect. It’s quite blustery. When you actually get onto the court, you feel a wind there that you might not feel from the stands or outside,” Millman said. “But it’s a nice court, it’s set up very nicely. The amount of the support they get out there, a lot of the seats are filled up and that makes it a good atmosphere to play tennis in.”

In the next round, Millman will face a familiar foe in Japan’s Taro Daniel. Daniel won the pair’s only previous FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting last year, but Millman has won by identical 6-1, 6-3 scorelines below tour-level.

“What makes him such a good tennis player is how much of a competitor he is. He’s been ultra competitive and so impressive in his first couple of rounds against Borna Coric and then beating Jordan Thompson today,” Millman said. “So I’m expecting a really tough, physical match. That’s what you expect when you play Taro and hopefully I can produce some good tennis.”

Millman and Daniel are good friends off the court. They even had dinner at an Indian restaurant in Tokyo before the start of this event.

“Taro is a very good friend of mine. We’ve played each other a fair amount of times, but not just that. Whenever we’re at tournaments, we’re looking to hit together or have dinner together,” Millman said. “He’s a very good friend, but you put friendships aside when you go out there and compete.”

“What makes him such a good tennis player is how much of a competitor he is. He’s been ultra competitive and so impressive in his first couple of rounds against Borna Coric and then beating Jordan Thompson today,” Millman said. “So I’m expecting a really tough, physical match. That’s what you expect when you play Taro and hopefully I can produce some good tennis.”

Millman and Daniel are good friends off the court. They even had dinner at an Indian restaurant in Tokyo before the start of this event.

“Taro is a very good friend of mine. We’ve played each other a fair amount of times, but not just that. Whenever we’re at tournaments, we’re looking to hit together or have dinner together,” Millman said. “He’s a very good friend, but you put friendships aside when you go out there and compete.”

The Big Four – Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray – reunite at the 2019 Rolex Shanghai Masters. Djokovic, Federer and Murray have combined to win all but the first edition of this ATP Masters 1000 tournament, the final stop of the three-week Asian swing. Nadal, a two-time finalist, will be going for a record-extending 36th Masters 1000 title as he aims to increase his lead over Djokovic in the battle for year-end No. 1.

Daniil Medvedev reached back-to-back Masters 1000 finals in the lead to the US Open, finishing runner-up to Nadal in Montreal and triumphing in Cincinnati (d. Goffin), and looks to continue his impressive run in Shanghai. A few weeks ago at the St. Petersburg Open, Medvedev became just the fifth active player to reach five consecutive finals, joining the Big Four.

Nitto ATP Finals hopefuls will look to gain up to 1,000 ATP Race To London points in Shanghai. BNP Paribas Open champion Dominic Thiem, who would qualify should he reach the Beijing final this week, is currently fifth in the Race standings, followed by Stefanos Tsitsipas, Roberto Bautista Agut and Matteo Berrettini. Defending champion Alexander Zverev will look to gain ground with a strong finish in Asia.

Here’s all you need to know about the Shanghai tennis tournament: what is the schedule, where to watch, who has won and more. 

Established: 2009

Tournament Dates: 6-13 October 2019

Tournament Director: Michael A. Luevano

Draw Ceremony: Saturday, 5 October at 10:30am

Schedule (View On Official Website)
* Qualifying: starts Saturday, 5 October at 12:00pm
* Main draw: Sunday at 12:00pm, Monday – Friday at 12:30pm and 6:30pm, Saturday at 1:30pm and 8:00pm
* Doubles final: Sunday, 13 October at 1:30pm
* Singles final: Sunday, 13 October not before 4:30pm

How To Watch
Watch Live On Tennis TV 
TV Schedule

On my way to the Hai!
So excited to be coming back to Shanghai. Where should I visit this year?? Send me your ideas???? pic.twitter.com/onjKXpy2ma

— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) October 2, 2019

Venue: Qi Zhong Tennis Center
Main Court Seating: 13,880

Prize Money: US $7,473,620 (Total Financial Commitment: US $8,322,885)  

Tickets On Sale: Buy Now

View Who Is Playing, Past Champions, Seeds, Points & Prize Money Breakdown

Honour Roll (Open Era)
Most Titles, Singles: Novak Djokovic (4)
Most Titles, Doubles: Marcelo Melo (3)
Oldest Champion: Roger Federer, 36, in 2017
Youngest Champion: Andy Murray, 23, in 2010
Lowest-Ranked Champion: No. 8 Nikolay Davydenko in 2009
Most Match Wins: Novak Djokovic (32)

2018 Finals
Singles: [2] Novak Djokovic (SRB) d [13] Borna Coric (CRO) 63 64   Read & Watch
Doubles: [3] Lukasz Kubot (POL) / Marcelo Melo (BRA) d [6] Jamie Murray (GBR) / Bruno Soares (BRA) 64 62  Read & Watch 

Social
Hashtag: #RolexSHMasters
Facebook: @RolexSHMasters
Twitter: @SH_RolexMasters
Instagram: @1rolexshmasters

Did You Know… In its first five years, 2009-2013, the Rolex Shanghai Masters was named ATP Masters 1000 Tournament of the Year, as voted by ATP players. Before the Rolex Shanghai Masters, Qi Zhong Stadium hosted the season finale, the Tennis Masters Cup, from 2005-08. David Nalbandian prevailed in five sets against Roger Federer in the 2005 final. The Swiss won the title the next two years, followed by Novak Djokovic.  

Matteo Berrettini’s first serve is one of the best on Tour. When facing break point, his big hammer simply has no peer.

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers of the 10 best performers so far in 2019 with first-serve points won identifies that the 23-year-old Italian comes in a very respectable eighth best, winning 78.68 per cent (1993/2533) of first-serve points. But when facing break point, his win percentage jumps up 6.58 percentage points to 84.87 per cent (129/152). That improvement is head and shoulders above his competition.

Top 10 Category: First-Serve Points Won; Comparison Of Break Points vs All Other Points

Berrettini’s sizable jump of 6.58 percentage points is in stark contrast to the rest of the players in the group. The other nine players averaged a 2.06 percentage-point decrease in first-serve points won at break point compared to all other point scores.

When Berrettini reached the semi-finals of the 2019 US Open, his first Grand Slam semi-final, his ability to elevate first-serve performance around break points was clearly on show.

2019 US Open Berrettini First-Serve Performance
Break Points Saved With First Serve = 86.11% (31/36)
All Other Point Scores = 75.25% (307/408)

The Italian rose one spot last week in the ATP Race To London and currently sits in eighth position, with 2,185 points, only five points ahead of ninth-placed Kei Nishikori. But if Berrettini can hold onto that position or improve it in the next four weeks, he will make his debut at the Nitto ATP Finals, to be held 10-17 November at The O2 in London.

Editor’s note: Craig O’Shannessy has worked with Matteo Berrettini as part of an association with the Italian Tennis Federation.