TOKYO, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Third seed Taylor Fritz of the United States beat Australia's James Duckworth to reach the second round at the ATP Japan Open here on Wednesday.
Fritz, who has moved to a career-best No. 11 in the latest world rankings, defeated the 30-year-old Duckworth 6-2, 6-7 (2), 6-1 in one hour and 47 minutes.
Seventh seed Denis Shapovalov of Canada served a total of 11 aces to defeat Steve Johnson of the United States 6-3, 7-6 (3).
Fritz will next take on Japan's Hiroki Moriya and Shapovalov meet Japanese qualifier Rio Noguchi.
Elsewhere, South Korea's Kwon Soon-woo, who upset sixth seed Alex de Minaur of Australia on Tuesday, became the first player to book a quarterfinal berth after ousting American Mackenzie McDonald 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-2.
Kwon will fight for the semifinals against Spain's Pedro Martinez, who fought back from one set down to defeat compatriot Jaume Munar 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. ■
