■After their first match in the ATP Challenger, Yoshihito Nishioka won three straight matches against this opponent, but then lost four straight matches. He has also lost two this season. In his post-match interview, Nishioka said with a smile, "Before I knew it, I had become a player who couldn't win. I felt like I was being overtaken by younger players." Although Felix Auger-Aliassime's performance has been up and down, he is a player with great skill. However, in this match, he had a physical problem that caused him to take a medical timeout just before the start. In the rallies, he didn't hit hard backhands, but instead relied on slices in many scenes. Nishioka took advantage of the weakness shown by this strong player, who was ranked 6th at his personal best.

■ Auger-Aliassime was on the defensive in the stroke match, and Nishioka was trying to break him down. Auger-Aliassime didn't hit the ball as hard, but his movements were as agile as usual. Meanwhile, Nishioka continued to hit as he was hitting a hard rock with his favorite backhand and with his forehand with a new Western grip which enables him to hit more top-spin shots.

■After winning two tiebreaks in a 3 hour 12 minute match, Nishioka collapsed to the court with a distorted face the moment he got the match point. His right leg was cramping. He aggressive play, running left and right to get his opponent's counterattacks pushed him past his limits - which is Nishioka's motto. He said he had signs of cramping in the second set. "I attacked when I needed to attack, and held on when I needed to. It was a good win, a win that was true to myself." With the crowd cheering him on, Nishioka was proud in the on-court interview.