ATP Tour

Former Tokyo champion Fritz moves closer to Turin with latest win

Taylor Fritz was not at his best on Friday at the Kinoshita Group Japan Open Tennis Championships, but he found a way to move past Nuno Borges in straight sets and reach his 10th quarter-final of the season.

The American rallied from a break down in both sets, striking 29 winners to 25 unforced errors en route to earning a tight 7-5, 7-6(4) victory in one hour and 54 minutes in Tokyo.

"I think at times I made it very hard for myself," Fritz said. "I came out first game and was broken. The court I warmed up on was super fast to centre court, and I didn't make first serves in the first game and then caught every ball super early. I did a really good job of breaking back. It is not too often I go down a break early and then went down a break down two times in the second set, but I fought really hard and did a great job of getting myself back in the sets."

Fritz in form! 👌@Taylor_Fritz97 takes out Borges 7-5 7-6 to advance into a 65th career quarter-final @japanopentennis | #kinoshitajotennispic.twitter.com/mKkY7M4OKw

— ATP Tour (@atptour) September 26, 2025

Fritz has earned a Tour-leading 30 wins since the start of the grass swing in June, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index, and has so far added another 100 points to his tally this week in Tokyo, boosting his chances of returning to the Nitto ATP Finals in November.

The 27-year-old is sixth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin on 3,565 points. He is 860 points ahead of 10th-placed Felix Auger-Aliassime, who is effectively the first player outside the Top-8 cut, with ninth-placed Jack Draper ruled out for the rest of the year due to injury.

Fritz, who reached the title match in Turin last season, clinched the crown in Tokyo in 2022. Aiming to win his third tour-level title of the year, the second seed will meet Sebastian Korda in the quarter-finals.

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Korda dispatched Japanese wild card Sho Shimabukuro 6-1, 6-4 to reach his fourth tour-level quarter-final of the year. The 25-year-old trails Fritz 1-2 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

In other action on Friday at the ATP 500 hard-court event, Casper Ruud improved to 6-3 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series against Matteo Berrettini with a 7-6(4), 6-2 win. Ruud did not face a break point in his victory and will face qualifier Aleksandar Vukic after the Australian beat Germany’s Daniel Altmaier 6-4, 6-2.

Ruud is up one spot to 12th in the Live Race To Turin on 2,385 points. Ruud advanced to the final in Turin in 2022.