Tiafoe smashes racket in Tokyo; Shapovalov falls

TOKYO — Frances Tiafoe smashed his racket as he lost to qualifier Marton Fucsovics in the first round of the Japan Open on Wednesday, while Denis Shapovalov also suffered an upset loss.

The eighth-seeded Tiafoe struggled with his first serve in a 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 loss to Fucsovics and smashed his racket against the court surface just after the Hungarian sealed the victory with a forehand winner.

Tiafoe has slipped to 29th in the rankings. It was the fourth consecutive loss for the American after a third-round loss to Jan-Lennard Struff at the US Open and defeat in both of his matchups against the Czech Republic in Davis Cup qualifying this month.

Fucsovics will next play either Jordan Thompson or Brandon Nakashima in the second round in Tokyo.

Seventh-seeded Shapovalov lost 7-5, 6-3 to Daniel Altmaier, who goes on to play either Damir Dzumhur or Aleksandar Vukic.