By Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, October 4, 2016
"Since this year, I’ve been playing a lot more offensively,” said Gael Monfils after powering into the Japan Open second round.
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Ivo Karlovic played human eraser to prevail in a suspense story.
Karlovic crushed 32 aces and saved two match points edging Federico Delbonis in a triple tie break thriller, 7-6 (6), 6-7 (6), 7-6 (5).
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Trailing 4-5 in the final set, Karlovic saved a couple of match points, eventually prevailing in the tie break.
No. 2-seeded Gael Monfils drained the drama in powering past Japanese wild card Yuichi Sugita, 6-3, 6-1.
Monfils meets compatriot Gilles Simon for a quarterfinal spot. Simon grinded out a 7-5, 4-6, 6-0 triumph over Philipp Kohlschreiber. Simon has won six of seven meetings with Monfils with the world No. 8's lone victory coming in the 2012 Montpellier semifinals.
In his first match since losing to world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the US Open semifinals, Monfils was committed to playing with more aggression.
The 2010 Tokyo runner-up, who took some criticism for pushing no-pace shots in his loss to Djokovic, said working with coach Mikael Tillström he's tried to assert his offense this season. Monfils served 73 percent and won 25 of 30 first-serve points in a 58-minute win.
"Since this year, I’ve been playing a lot more offensively,” Monfils said. “My coach has helped me with that part of the game. I remember playing individual matches very offensively in years past, whether at the US Open or in Davis Cup, but this year was the first when I was able to do it on a consistent basis.”
Nick Kyrgios slashed 14 aces and did not face a break point defeating American qualifier Ryan Harrison, 7-5, 6-2.
"My serve is obviously a big weapon," Kyrgios said. "It gets me out of trouble when I'm not feeling so great and it's always a part of my game that I can rely on to win matches. I just think that I can't miss the same serve twice, so why not go after it on the second serve?"
Kyrgios will play his mentor, Radek Stepanek, for a quarterfinal spot. Czech qualifier Stepanek swept Stephane Robert, 6-2, 6-1.
Fifth-seeded David Goffin dismissed Japanese wild card Yoshihito Nishioka, 7-5, 6-2, setting up a second-round clash with Jiri Vesely. The 52nd-ranked Czech conquered Kevin Anderson, 3-6, 6-0, 6-4.
Juan Monaco edged Taylor Fritz, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (5). The 32-year-old Argentine takes on Australian qualifier James Duckworth next.
Duckworth held a 6-7 (5), 7-6 (4), 4-2 lead over Feliciano Lopez when the eighth-seeded Spaniard retired with illness.
In a battle of veterans, Marcos Baghdatis beat Marcel Granollers, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3. Czech qualifier Radek Stepanek swept Stephane Robert, 6-2, 6-1.
Fresh off the Shenzhen semifinals, Serbia's Janko Tipsarevic continued his recent resurgence. The former world No. 8 stopped Japanese wild card Taro Daniel, 6-2, 6-4.