TOKYO (AP) – Frances Tiafoe lost to the qualifiers at the Japan Open on Wednesday, and Denis Shapovalov suffered losses.
The eighth seed Tiafoe struggled with his first serve in a 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 loss to the Fugu couple and smashed the racket on the court after Hungary won with a forehand victory.
Tiafoe has fallen to 29th place in the ranking. This is the fourth straight American’s third-round loss to Jan-Lennard Struff and defeated the Czech Republic this month in two matches against the Davis Cup.
Fukuson will next play Jordan Thompson or Brandon Nakahima in the second round of Tokyo.
The seventh seed Shapovalov lost 7-5, 6-3 to Daniel Altmaier, who went on to play Damir Dzumhur or Aleksandar Vukic.
