Frances Tiafoe Loses in First Round at Tokyo, Breaks Racket in Frustration

Frances Tiafoe’s frustration boiled over as he smashed his racket following a tough first-round defeat to qualifier Marton Fucsovics at the Japan Open on Wednesday. The eighth seed struggled with his first serve and ultimately fell 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 to the Hungarian, who sealed victory with a forehand winner, prompting Tiafoe’s outburst.

The loss marks Tiafoe’s fourth straight defeat, dropping him to 29th in the ATP rankings after recent setbacks, including a third-round exit at the US Open and two losses in Davis Cup qualifiers.

Fucsovics will face either Jordan Thompson or Brandon Nakashima in the second round in Tokyo.

In another upset, seventh seed Denis Shapovalov was defeated 7-5, 6-3 by Daniel Altmaier, who will next play the winner between Damir Dzumhur and Aleksandar Vukic.