Number one player in Japan, Yoshihito Nishioka conceded to American qualifier Marcos Giron at the Kinoshita Japan Open Tennis Championships tonight in three hard fought sets (7-6, 4-6, 6-1). The final result of the match did not reflect how tight the game was apart from the 16-14 tie break in the first set.

Following a frustrating loss in the 1st set tie break Nishioka took the early break in the 2nd set with his razor sharp precision and relentless grinding down on Giron, finally taking the set 6-4. The final set was closely contested with Nishioka getting support from an increasingly audible crowd. At 1-1 Nishioka pushes hard for the break but after a spat of deuce/advantage points, Giron pulled through at 2-1. The next game on Giron’s serve was the longest game of the match as Nishioka desperately tried to break, with a hotly contested series of deuce/advantage points, only to yet again fail to convert. On the first point of the next game Nishioka sent a ball into the crowd and got a code violation and then threw his racket down after not converting the advantage to break back on Giron who held serve to further consolidate his lead 4-1. The last two games were wrapped up quickly by Giron whose opponent showed little resistance.