On October 17, Taylor Fritz, the highest-ranked American in the tournament and the No. 1 seed in Tokyo, commenced his title defense at the 2023 Japan Open with a notable win over Great Britain’s No. 1 player, Cameron Norrie. Fritz faced a challenging opening-round match against the highest-ranked unseeded player, but he managed to secure victory in a compelling contest.
In the match, despite being broken early in the opening set, Fritz demonstrated resilience by breaking Norrie’s serve twice to take the lead. He continued his strong performance in the second set, breaking Norrie once more to seal the match with a scoreline of 6-4, 6-3, in just one hour and 21 minutes.
Reflecting on the tough matchup against a fellow top 20 ranked player, the World No. 10 acknowledged the difficulty of drawing Norrie in the first round. Fritz spoke about their past encounters, emphasizing the competitiveness of their matches and his satisfaction with the outcome this time.
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For his second-round match, Taylor Fritz is set to face Shintaro Mochicuki, a 20-year-old wildcard recipient from Japan, who caused an upset by defeating World No. 31 Tomas Martin Etcheverry in straight sets.
Fritz, last year’s Japan Open champion, is determined to defend his title and is currently ranked No. 9 in the race to secure a spot in the ATP Finals in Turin. His journey continues in Tokyo as he faces a challenging field of competitors, including Frances Tiafoe, Alex de Minaur, and the recent Shanghai Masters champion, Hubert Hurkacz.
The second-round match between Fritz and Mochicuki is scheduled for Thursday, October 19. Tennis fans eagerly anticipate more exciting action in the tournament as Fritz strives to maintain his winning streak.
Fritz in Tokyo, ranking, and results in 2023
Currently ranked no.10, the American owns a 52-21 match record in 2023. Taylor is playing in Tokyo where he defeated the world no.18 Cameron Norrie 6-4 6-3.
Taylor Fritz will face the world no.215 Shintaro Mochizuki in the 2nd round. They have never played each other until now on the main tour.
Fritz clinched 3 titles in 2023 in Australia, Delray Beach and Atlanta.
Taylor won 7 titles in his career: 5 on hard courts and 2 on grass courts. (See the list of his titles)
He is also scheduled to play in Paris (Rolex Paris Masters) after Basel. The main draw will start on the 23rd of October.
Cameron Norrie in 2023
Ranked world no.18, the Brit played his last match on the 17th of October when he capitulated to world no.10 Taylor Fritz 6-4 6-3 in the 1st round in Tokyo (draw).
At the moment, during this season Norrie owns a 35-23 win-loss record. This year, Cameron lifted the trophy in Rio de Janeiro. The Brit was the runner-up in Auckland and Buenos Aires.
He is also scheduled to play in Paris (Rolex Paris Masters) after Vienna. The main draw will start on the 23rd of October.
Taylor Fritz and Cameron Norrie faced off 13 times. Their current record is 7-6 for Fritz. The last time they played, Taylor Fritz won 6-4 6-3 in the 1st round in Tokyo (Rakuten Japan Open) on the 17th of October 2023.
In the following video you can watch the highlights.
Taylor Fritz and Cameron Norrie |
| Embed from Getty Images |
