Belgium’s David Goffin stunned World No. 1 and top seed Carlos Alcaraz of Spain 7-5, 6-3 on Tuesday in the opening round of the Astana Open in Kazakhkstan.
Entered into the draw as a lucky loser, Goffin converted five of his 11 break chances in the one-hour, 46-minute upset. It was the 19-year-old Alcaraz’s first loss in straight sets since last November in Paris.
No. 2 Daniil Medvedev of Russia rolled to a 6-3, 6-1 defeat of Spain’s Albert Ramos-Vinolas. No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece was a 6-3, 6-4 winner against Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin. Others advancing included Russia’s Karen Khachanov and Pavel Kotov, Italy’s Luca Nardi and Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik.
Japan Open Tennis Championships
Spain’s Jaume Munar knocked off No. 1 seed Casper Ruud of Norway 6-3, 6-3 in the first round in Tokyo. Munar saved four of five break points and converted four of his eight break chances.
Fifth-seeded Nick Kyrgios of Australia won 86 percent of his first-service points (25 of 29) and fired nine aces in a 6-3, 6-1 victory against Taiwan’s Chun-Hsin Tseng.
Soonwoo Kwon of South Korea upended No. 6 Alex de Minaur of Australia 6-3, 6-2. No. 8 Daniel Evans of Great Britain rallied to beat Moldova’s Radu Albot 6-7 (3), 6-1, 6-4 and No. 9 Borna Coric of Croatia eliminated Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-4, 7-6 (4). Other winners included Mackenzie McDonald, Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak and Japan’s Hiroki Moriya and Rio Noguchi.
–Field Level Media
