Ruud Learns Tokyo Path

Casper Ruud leads the singles field at the 2022 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships, with the Norwegian occupying the draw’s top line as the top seed. Ruud will open play against Spain’s Jaume Muna at the ATP 500 event, with sixth seed Alex de Minaur drawing South Korea’s Soonwoo Kwon, also in the top quarter.

Also in the top half in Tokyo are fourth seed Frances Tiafoe (vs. Yasutaka Uchiyama) and eighth seed Daniel Evans (vs. Radu Albot) in the second quarter.

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Second seed Cameron Norrie will meet Thanasi Kokkinakis in one of the highlight matches of the opening round, with newly crowned San Diego champion Brandon Nakashima a potential second-round opponent. In the same quarter, seventh seed Denis Shapovalov and American Steve Johnson will play for the right to face a qualifier in the second round.

Fifth seed Nick Kyrgios opens against Chun-Hsin Tseng, with third seed Taylor Fritz and Cincinnati champion Borna Coric potential quarter-final opponents for the Aussie.

Five Japanese players are in the main draw, not including potential qualifiers. World No. 56 Yoshihito Nishioka leads the way, with Daniel also inside the Top 100.

Past singles champions include: Stefan Edberg (1987, 1989-91), John McEnroe (1988), Pete Sampras (1993-94, 1996), Lleyton Hewitt (2001), Roger Federer (2006), Rafael Nadal (2010), Andy Murray (2011) and Juan Martin del Potro (2013).