Japan Open: Nick Kyrgios advances, but Casper Ruud is out in the first round

Nick Kyrgios returned to court after the disappointing quarterfinal loss to Karen Khachanov of Russia at the US Open. He took some time to adjust to the humidity after struggling with his breathing.

The 27-year-old Aussie dropped just four service points after navigating through an early challenge by Tseng Chun-Hsin on the outdoor hard courts in Tokyo. He saved a breakpoint in the opening service game and eventually secured a comfortable straight-set victory.

No. five seed Nick Kyrgios served nine aces, won 89% of the points on the first serve and broke the serve of Tseng Chun-Hsin four times from six opportunities. In contrast, the 21-year-old Taiwanese served three aces, won 66% of the points on the first serve and committed five double faults.

After the victory, Nick Kyrgios said, "I played really solid. I came out a bit slow, but I don't play many matches, so it's hard to just get straight back into that competitive flow. But as soon as I held the first game, I kind of found my form again and played well."

The victory extended the win-loss record Nick Kyrgios for the season to 36-10. He will next lock horns with Kamil Majchrzak of Poland for a spot in the quarterfinal round of the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships on October 6.

Casper Ruud was knocked out of the Rakuten Japan Open by Jaume Munar

Jaume Munar advanced to the second round of the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships after securing a comfortable straight-set victory over US Open finalist Casper Ruud of Norway.

The 6-3, 6-3 victory against Casper Ruud was the second victory of Jaume Munar against a Top 10 opponent from 13 matches, with his previous win coming against then-the world's no. three Alexander Zverev at the Morocco Open in 2019.

Jaume Munar began the opening set aggressively, raced to a commanding 5-1 lead, and continued with his winning ways in the second set with an instant break. He escaped a three-deuce game at 4-3 in the second set and secured victory with his fourth break.

After the match, Jaume Munar said, "I think it's one of the best wins of my career. Casper is a great player. We all know that this may not be his best surface, not mine. But I managed to play the tennis I needed to play today."

Jaume Munar will face fellow Spaniard Pedro Martinez in the second round of the Japan Open on October 6.

In another first-round clash of the day, qualifier Ramkumar Ramanathan of India lost 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(7-1) to Rio Noguchi of Japan.