ATP Tour

Inside the Rei Sakamoto Reivolution

At the 2025 Australian Open, Rei Sakamoto won just two games in the first round of qualifying against Tristan Boyer. It was not that the moment had gotten to him, but that he had taken a big step up in competition one year on from claiming the boys’ singles title at Melbourne Park.

But one year on, Sakamoto is back and making it clear he is not the same player. The budding Japanese star will compete in a major main draw for the first time, and there is a reason for it.

“How professional I am overall,” Sakamoto told ATPTour.com, before citing examples. “Mental stability and physicality.”

Sakamoto’s coach, ATP Coach member Federico Ricci, recalled a key moment last March, when the 19-year-old was playing an ATP Challenger event in Cap Cana, Dominican Republic. They had some long discussions about their relationship, what Sakamoto wanted from Ricci, what he was and wasn’t willing to take and the non-negotiables from the coach.

“That's been a little bit of a turning point from that point on,” Ricci told ATPTour.com. “After that he did well and he still hasn't found his consistency throughout the year. It's something that maybe comes from the juniors where they only count six results and they also count doubles. So then, of course, when you go on Tour, it's much more extensive and complex. But I would say the view, the vision, is a bit more aligned to what it should be going forward on the pro tour.”

The results were immediate. In his next tournament, Sakamoto qualified for an ATP Masters 1000 event for the first time in Miami. At the time, he was No. 330 in the PIF ATP Rankings.

Sakamoto later won his second Challenger title in Cary, North Carolina and his third trophy at that level in Yokohama, Japan, reaching his career high of World No. 159.

“I think he has matured quite a bit. As a person, first of all, he still has many, many steps to go on that side, but he has matured a little bit and he has matured also as a tennis player in his understanding of the game,” Ricci said. “I think, the first three, four months of 2025 were very important in his maturity and understanding of the game, how he understood how to be on the court and how tennis is played and what is it about."

Off the court, Sakamoto is still fun and full of personality, something he showcases through his YouTube channel, called the REIVOLUTION channel.

“I like it. I really like doing it,” Sakamoto said. “It’s a good platform to expose my personality a little bit more than I can do on court. I like it.”

An example is that Sakamoto often shows himself cooking, with plenty of comedy involved. The Japanese player has a dry sense of humour, putting that on full display when discussing how much he enjoys cooking.

“I like cooking, but I hate doing the dishes,” Sakamoto said. “I moved into a new apartment at the end of last year and I made sure I went with one with a dishwasher.”

But while the Rei-volution is taking place on the Internet, the evolution of his game is clear on the court.

“He perhaps had a very simplistic way of looking at tennis, perhaps very junior with a good ball speed like the player he is,” Ricci said. “So for him, everything was one, two, max three, and slap as hard as you can. When I of course tried to explain to him tennis from a different dimension, he took it as I wanted to make him a pusher.

“So of course, then we had to find the right understanding of both terminology — of course there are language and cultural differences — but terminology and concept of tennis and making him understand a little bit how tennis is really played and risk and rewards and all that aspect. So a part of it was maturity, part of it was simply explaining tennis.”

Back in Melbourne, where he won just two games in qualifying a year ago, Sakamoto earned his way into the main draw without losing serve or a set.

“It is special,” Sakamoto said. “I have good memories from the juniors and I think the surface suits me and the hospitality and everything, I feel that is amazing here, so I like it.”

This is still the beginning of the 19-year-old’s journey. No matter what happens in the first round against fellow #NextGenATP star Rafael Jodar and through the rest of the event, this is just another opportunity to grow.

“There have been significant steps forward,” Ricci said. “There's still many, many to go.”