TOKYO. Popyrin dispatches Watanuki in the qualifications

Alexei Popyrin bests Yosuke Watanuki 4-6 6-1 6-4 in the qualifications in Tokyo on Saturday. Popyrin will face off with James Duckworth in the qualifications.

Score, report, and key facts

1^st set.

There was not much difference between them in this set with the exception of 1 break that Watanuki conquered in the 7^th game (4-3) before winning the set (6-4).

2^nd set.

Popyrin had a boost of confidence at the beginning of the set after breaking Watanuki in the 2^nd game (2-0) before consolidating his break and lead 5-0. Alexei extended his lead after breaking Yousuke in the 4^th (4-0) game before winning the set (6-1).

A crucial moment of the match was when the Australian won 5 consecutive games in the 2^nd set to change the scoreline from 0-0 to 5-0.

3^rd set.

The set was pretty even as both sides managed to hold the serve. The only difference was 1 break that Alexei conquered in the 7^th game (4-3) before winning the set (6-4).

Statistics

At the end of the match, Alexei scored 91 points vs. Watanuki’s 75 points.

The Australian blasted 10 aces and he committed 4 double faults. Alexei was effective in converting 50% of the break points that he conquered (3/6). On the other side, Watanuki was effective in converting 50% of the break points that he procured points (1/2). Nonetheless, that was not enough to win the encounter.

After this encounter, the head to head between Popyrin and Watanuki is 1-0 for Alexei.

Next Match: Alexei Popyrin vs. James Duckworth – stats

Popyrin will play Duckworth in the qualifications.

There is no head to head record between Alexei Popyrin and James Duckworth since this will be the first time that they will face off at pro level.

The last time that they locked horns, Duckworth won 4-6 7-6² 7-6⁶ in the 2^nd round in Tiburon Challenger back in 2018.

Tennis Scores in Tokyo

• Tatsuma ItoIto – Peter GojowczykGojowczyk (5-7 6-1 6-4) – See score progression
• John MillmanMillman – Bradley KlahnKlahn (3-6 7-6⁹ 6-2) – See score progression
• Alexei PopyrinPopyrin – Yosuke WatanukiWatanuki (4-6 6-1 6-4) – See score progression
• Pablo AndujarAndujar – Brayden SchnurSchnur (6-0 6-0) – See score progression
• James DuckworthDuckworth – Thomas FabbianoFabbiano (6-2 6-3) – See score progression
• Soon-Woo KwonKwon – Henri LaaksonenLaaksonen (7-6⁵ 6-2) – See score progression
• Marcel GranollersGranollers – Nicolas JarryJarry (6-1 1-6 6-2) – See score progression
• Yasutaka UchiyamaUchiyama – Steve JohnsonJohnson (6-3 6-3) – See score progression

Upcoming matches

• Marcel GranollersGranollers – Yasutaka UchiyamaUchiyama (0-0) – See H2H details
• Pablo AndujarAndujar – Soon-Woo KwonKwon (0-0) – See H2H details
• Yuichi SugitaSugita – Marin CilicCilic (0-0) – See H2H details
• John MillmanMillman – Tatsuma ItoIto (1-1) – See H2H details
• Radu AlbotAlbot – Filip KrajinovicKrajinovic (0-1) – See H2H details
• David GoffinGoffin – Pablo Carreno-BustaCarreno-Busta (1-2) – See H2H details
• James DuckworthDuckworth – Alexei PopyrinPopyrin (0-0) – See H2H details
• Jan-Lennard StruffStruff – Go SoedaSoeda (0-0) – See H2H details
• Taro DanielDaniel – Borna CoricCoric (0-0) – See H2H details
• Jordan ThompsonThompson – Juan Ignacio LonderoIgnacio Londero (0-0) – See H2H details
• Yoshihito NishiokaNishioka – Joao SousaSousa (1-0) – See H2H details
• Hubert HurkaczHurkacz – Lucas PouillePouille (2-0) – See H2H details
• Taylor Harry FritzHarry Fritz – Reilly OpelkaOpelka (2-0) – See H2H details
• Lorenzo SonegoSonego – Hyeon ChungChung (0-0) – See H2H details
• Denis ShapovalovShapovalov – Miomir KecmanovicKecmanovic (1-0) – See H2H details
• Alex De MinaurDe Minaur – Lloyd HarrisHarris (0-0) – See H2H details