Djokovic beats Popyrin in Tokyo opener

Novak Djokovic made amends for his doubles exit at the Japan Open by progressing to the second round of the singles on Tuesday.

The top-ranked Serb – attempting to win a title on his tournament debut for the 10th time – beat Australian Alexei Popyrin 6-4 6-2 and next faces local wildcard entry Go Soeda.

Holding to love in four of his nine service games, Djokovic did not give any break-point opportunities to 94th ranked Popyrin in the match.

Popyrin held solid until the ninth game of the first set where he was broken for the first time.

It was downhill from there for the former French Open junior champion however, with Popyrin winning only two more games in the match.

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Djokovic, alongside Filip Krajinovic, had been knocked out of the doubles by the fourth-seeded Mate Pavic and Bruno Soares on Monday. That was the world No.1’s first competitive match since retiring with a shoulder injury during his fourth-round clash with Stan Wawrinka at the US Open.

“My shoulder is good, I didn’t feel any pain in today’s (singles) match,” Djokovic said of his injury.

“I thought from beginning to end that I played very well, very consistent, high level, good intensity, and plenty of chances on his serve. I was able to step it up in the second set and finished the match well.”

Japanese wildcard Taro Daniel caused the biggest upset of the day by beating second-seeded Borna Coric 6-4 4-6 7-6(5) after a gruelling two-hour, 39-minute battle in 30-degree heat on the Colosseum show court.

Daniel is joined in the second round by compatriot Yasutaka Uchiyama, the qualifier needing only 54 minutes to dismantle fourth-seeded Benoit Paire 6-2 6-2. He next meets Radu Albot, who beat Krajinovic 6-3 7-5.

Uchiyama’s victory means four of the five Japanese main draw entries made it through to the second round.

Reilly Opelka won an all-American duel with seventh-seeded Taylor Fritz, 6-3 6-4, to set up a second-round match against Frenchman Gilles Simon, who beat Pablo Andujar 6-4 6-0.

In a later match on Tuesday, young Canadian lefty Denis Shapovalov recorded a 6-4 6-4 defeated Miomir Kecmanovic 6-4 6-4 to reach the last 16, where he will face either No.3 seed David Goffin or Pablo Carreno Busta.