■Ben Shelton, the defending champion, played in the Laver Cup held in Germany until the 22nd. He arrived in Japan two days ago, and said, "I was supposed to play doubles yesterday, but it was canceled due to rain. It was tough playing for the first time today." True to his words, in the first set, he served in the seventh game of the first set, leading 40-0, but made a series of mistakes and lost the game. He was overwhelmed by Reilly Opelka and lost the first set.

■However, he made fewer mistakes from the second set. He was able to deal with the high-speed serves of the 211cm Opelka, breaking his opponent's serve a total of four times in the second and third sets. In the third set, he had five service games, within which he had 23 successful first serves, allowing only three points to Opelka for a safe victory. "Comparing the start of the first set to the end of the third set, I think I improved a lot,” he said. The 21-year-old answered calmly when asked if he felt any pressure as the defending champion, "I don't feel any particular pressure. I've been playing well at this time of the year, so I'm confident."