Harrison Edges Finals Contender Anderson In Tokyo
Ryan Harrison recorded his best match win in 13 months on Wednesday to book a spot in the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships 2017 quarter-finals. The American withstood 23 aces from the racquet of Kevin Anderson, the recent US Open finalist, to win 6-3, 1-6, 7-6(2) in just over two hours.
The third set didn't feature any breaks of serve, before Harrison won the first five points of the tie-break. It was his biggest victory since overcoming then-World No. 6 Milos Raonic in August 2016 in the US Open second round.
Anderson had been looking to add 45 points to his Emirates ATP Race To London tally to move within 10 points of Sam Querrey, who sits at No. 10 and in the last qualification spot for the Nitto ATP Finals, to be held at The O2 in London from 12-19 November. Querrey fell in the Tokyo first round to Richard Gasquet on Tuesday.
Harrison will next challenge top seed Marin Cilic, who is bidding to clinch a berth in the English capital for the third time (2014, 2016). The Croatian lost just four of his first-service points and struck 14 aces in a routine 6-3, 6-4 win over Japanese wild card Yuichi Sugita. He is No. 7 in the Emirates ATP Race To London, 45 points behind sixth-placed Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, who is competing this week at the China Open.
Earlier in the day, fourth seed and last year’s runner-up David Goffin – who features in the bottom half of the Tokyo draw – opened his campaign by hitting 12 aces and relentlessly targeting Spaniard Feliciano Lopez’s backhand in a 7-5, 6-1 first-round win. The Belgian, who is No. 13 in the Emirates ATP Race To London and also hoping to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time, now meets Australian qualifier Matthew Ebden on Thursday. Goffin captured his third ATP World Tour title on Sunday at the Shenzhen Open (d. Dolgopolov).
France’s Adrian Mannarino broke Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic three times in a 6-3, 6-2 victory over 70 minutes. Vesely had beaten Mannarino for his lone ATP World Tour title in January 2015 in the ASB Classic final. Through to his fourth quarter-final (or better) this year, he awaits the winner of Canadian third seed and three-time Tokyo finalist Milos Raonic or Yuichi Sugita of Japan. Sugita beat Mannarino in the Antalya Open final in June.