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Fritz, the highest-seeded American in the draw beat Alejandro
Davidovich Fokina 7-5 6-2 on the back of a decent first serve
despite trailing by a break in the opening set.
Fritz hit only 11 winners to the Spaniard's 20 but he converted
five break points to wrap up the match in 90 minutes to beat
Davidovich Fokina for the first time in three meetings.
"Really happy, he's a tough person to play against. He's got
weapons on both sides, he's extremely quick as well, so there's
nowhere you can really play with a lot of safety," Fritz said.
"He makes a lot of crazy shots and he's beaten me the past two
times."
Fritz needs to reach the final to have any chance of sealing a
place in the ATP Finals in Turin ahead of Andrey Rublev or Felix
Auger-Aliassime, who has won his last three tournaments.
"Turin is still in the picture, obviously, but there's not much
else I really could have done. I won Tokyo," he added.
"Felix has played really, really well, so he deserves it, but I
am going to try to steal his spot this week for sure."
Fellow American John Isner can remove one hurdle in the form of
Rublev after he booked a place in the second round against the
Russian with a 6-4 7-6(3) win over Germany's Oscar Otte.
The towering 37-year-old Isner, who finished runner-up to Andy
Murray in 2016, fired 19 aces in the contest to wrap things up
in 82 minutes.
French wildcard Gilles Simon battled back from a set down to
beat Britain's Andy Murray 4-6 7-5 6-3.
Frances Tiafoe also moved into the second round without
conceding a break point with a 6-4 6-4 win over Lorenzo Sonego
while fellow American Maxime Cressy ousted Argentine Diego
Schwartzman 6-3 6-3.
In a mixed day for the Italians, Lorenzo Musetti beat Marin
Cilic in straight sets to advance but 11th seed Jannik Sinner
was knocked out by Swiss qualifier Marc-Andrea Huesler who is
ranked 49 places below him.
Defending champion Novak Djokovic, world number one Carlos
Alcaraz, Rafa Nadal and Daniil Medvedev are among the main seeds
who received a bye into the second round.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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