Just days removed from his standout Laver Cup<\/a> wins over Carlos Alcaraz<\/a> and Alexander Zverev<\/a>, Fritz found himself pushed onto the defensive against fellow big server Diallo, who struck 16 more winners (40-24). Yet the second-seeded American dug deep to seal a two-hour, nine-minute victory and extend his perfect 3-0 record in the pair\u2019s Lexus ATP Head2Head series.<\/p>\n Taking care of business \ud83e\udee1@Taylor_Fritz97<\/a> survives the Diallo test to advance to round two.@japanopentennis<\/a> | #kinoshitajotennis<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/S2YAcknt7P<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 ATP Tour (@atptour) September 25, 2025<\/a> <\/p>\n With his win, Fritz also strengthened his bid to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals<\/a> for the second consecutive year. He is sixth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, having reached the title match at last year’s season finale before falling to Jannik Sinner<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe biggest thing for me today was the energy, it\u2019s really tough to match the energy from last week with Andre [Agassi] and the team going crazy on the bench,\u201d said Fritz of Laver Cup<\/a>\u2019s Team World, captained by Andre Agassi<\/a>. \u201cI really just had to find it and get it going. It was a really tough match to play.\u201d<\/p>\n Fritz now boasts a 46-17 record in 2025, according to the Infosys ATP Win\/Loss Index, only behind World No. 1 Alcaraz (62) for the most wins this season. The American, who captured the Tokyo title in 2022, faces a second-round clash with Portugal\u2019s Nuno Borges<\/a>.<\/p>\n It was also a strong day for other Americans. Sebastian Korda<\/a> rallied past countryman Marcos Giron<\/a> for a 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) victory, while Jenson Brooksby<\/a> upset sixth seed and last year\u2019s finalist Ugo Humbert<\/a> 7-6(4), 6-3.<\/p>\n Korda set a meeting with Japanese qualifier Sho Shimabukuro<\/a>, who stunned fifth seed Tomas Machac<\/a> 6-3, 7-6(4) in his first tour-level match of the season, and Brooksby next plays Luciano Darderi<\/a>, who denied home hope Yoshihito Nishioka<\/a> 7-6(9), 6-3 to advance.<\/p>\n Korda, who missed the grass swing due to a right shin stress fracture, is up seven spots to No. 67 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings. Brooksby now has 17 tour-level wins this year and remains on track to better his career-best count of 25 from 2022, the year he reached a career-high World No. 33.<\/p>\n Brandon Nakashima<\/a> and qualifier Ethan Quinn<\/a> were also among the American winners on Thursday in Tokyo. Nakashima backed up his semi-final run in Chengdu by rallying past Jordan Thompson<\/a> 6-7(6), 7-6(4), 6-2, and World No. 81 Quinn upset countryman Alex Michelsen<\/a> 7-5, 6-2.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n![\"It](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1758803346_501_it-all-adds-up-banner.jpg\"\/)
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