Milestone victory: Taylor Fritz edges past Gabriel Diallo for season's 30th hard-court win

Taylor Fritz got a scare in his Japan Open debut in Tokyo against Gabriel Diallo but managed to secure a hard-fought 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(3) victory, allowing him to advance to the second round at the start of his Asian swing. The American No. 1 guaranteed a second-round clash against Portugal's Nuno Borges.

Diallo was a tricky opponent for Fritz, who arrived fresh from his participation in the Laver Cup a few days earlier. The American No. 1 had been the hero of Team World, lifting the third title for his team in the traditional tournament. Fritz defeated Carlos Alcaraz (No. 1) and Alexander Zverev (No. 3) in singles—the latter being the decisive win that secured the victory for the team led by Andre Agassi.

With his inspiration soaring, Fritz quickly traveled from San Francisco to Tokyo to kick off the final part of the season, facing World No. 35 Diallo. It was the third meeting against Diallo—all in the last three months—and one in which Fritz had previously prevailed in the Wimbledon second round (3-6, 6-3, 7-6, 4-6, 6-3) and the Canadian Open second round (6-4, 6-2).

Diallo is having by far the best season of his career. At 24 years old, he has climbed the rankings from No. 89 at the start of the year to No. 33 a couple of weeks ago—his best ranking so far. The Canadian also secured his first title in 's-Hertogenbosch, in addition to reaching the quarterfinals at the Madrid Open and recording a handful of wins in Grand Slam tournaments.

Diallo takes first blood

In the first set, both players held on to their serve from the beginning, and Diallo showed he had the capacity to compete head-on with the World No. 5. Diallo earned his first break chance in the 7th game and took the lead at the first critical moment of the match. He then easily closed the set 6-4 on his serve.

The Canadian was relentless with a 69% first serve rate, winning 100% of those points, while Fritz 'only' won 65% of his first-serve points. A single break point was all Diallo needed to take the advantage and set out in search of his first career Top-10 victory.

Fritz akes second set after late break

The first half of the second set had a similar development to the first, with both players holding their service games without difficulty. Fritz served first and stayed ahead throughout the set, although without significantly threatening his rival's serve. It was in the 8th game (with the score 4-3 in favor of Fritz) that the decisive break arrived. With only the responsibility of serving for the set, Fritz had to save one break point but ultimately secured the set 6-3.