By Alberto Amalfi | Tuesday, October 3, 2017
Steve Johnson made a big breakthrough in Tokyo.
Johnson toppled second-seeded Dominic Thiem, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 in his Tokyo opener.
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The two-hour, 19-minute triumph was Johnson’s first win over the seventh-ranked Austrian and his first Top 10 victory since he dispatched then world No. 10 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the 2016 Cincinnati Masters.
Thiem denied 11 of 13 break-points, but could not find a solution for Johnson’s strong serving and vicious inside-out forehand in the decider.
Johnson banged out the lone break of the final set for a 3-2 lead and quickly consolidated.
In the eighth game, Thiem earned a break point, but the 46th-ranked American answered with a heavy serve to withstand the pressure.
Thiem dropped to 18-14 on hard courts this season.
Johnson, who raised his record to 3-20 vs. Top 20 opponents, will play either Shenzhen finalist Alexandr Dolgopolov or Daniil Medvedev in the second round.
No. 3-seeded Milos Raonic made a successful return after a seven-week break following left wrist surgery.
Raonic rocketed 16 aces and denied the only break point he faced sweeping Viktor Troicki, 6-3, 6-4, in 71 minutes. Raonic raised his record to 6-1 vs. the Serbian, setting up a second-round meeting with Yuichi Sugita.
The 40th-ranked Japanese held a 6-4 lead when former finalist Benoit Paire retired.
Richard Gasquet whipped some wondrous one-handed backhands defusing Wimbledon semifinalist Sam Querrey, 6-4, 7-6 (2).
It was Gasquet’s third consecutive win over Querrey, who celebrates his 30th birthday on Saturday.
Gasquet advanced to a second-round meeting with Yen-Hsun Lu, a 6 -1, 6-3 victor over Japanese wild card Taro Daniel.
Diego Schwartzman defeated Donald Young for the first time, 6-2, 7-5, setting up a second-round match with Bernard Tomic.