Watch the moment Frances Tiafoe smashed his racket at the Japan Open after suffering a shock first round defeat to Marton Fucsovics in Tokyo.
Frances Tiafoe Suffers Shock First Round Defeat at Japan Open
American tennis star Frances Tiafoe suffered a shock defeat to Hungarian qualifier Marton Fucsovics in the first round of the Japan Open on Wednesday afternoon.
Tiafoe headed into the ATP 500 event in Tokyo as the eighth seed, but after struggling with his first serve, he fell to a 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 loss to Fucsovics at the Ariake Coliseum.
A clearly frustrated Tiafoe was caught smashing his racket in the aftermath of the defeat.
This sort of reaction has become a regular occurrence in the sport in recent years. British No. 1 Jack Draper smashed his racket at the Italian Open back in May.
Tiafoe’s loss was his fourth in succession, following on from his defeat to Jan-Lennard Struff at the US Open, as well as his two losses in Davis Cup qualifying earlier this month.
He returns to action in Tokyo on Wednesday, as he takes to the court in the men’s doubles event alongside Brandon Nakashima. They take on Gabriel Diallo and Alex Michelsen in the last 16.
As for Fucsovics, he will face either Jordan Thompson or Nakashima in the second round of the men’s singles event on Friday. Thompson and Nakashima face off early on Thursday morning.
WATCH: Tiafoe Smashes Racket At Japan Open
Tokyo debut is a big W 😤
Fucsovics upsets Tiafoe 3-6 6-1 7-5 for his first Top 30 win since April!#kinoshitajotennis pic.twitter.com/olIEnvp7rK
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) September 24, 2025
Carlos Alcaraz Favourite to Win Japan Open
Recent US Open winner and six-time Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz, who is making his debut in Tokyo, is overwhelmingly favoured by bookmakers to win the Japan Open.
The Spaniard is priced at around 1/2 to win the ATP 500 event with leading UK bookmakers.
Alcaraz gets his tournament underway against Sebastien Baez on Thursday. Their head-to-head record favours Carlitos, with the 22-year-old winning both of their previous encounters.
Should he prevail, he will face Zizou Bergs or Alejandro Tabilo in the round of 16.
World No. 5 and 2022 Japan Open champion Taylor Fritz is the second favourite in the outright betting market, priced at around 5/1 to win the event for a second time in his career.
He faces Diallo of Canada in his opener, which is also due to take place on Thursday morning.
Matteo Berrettini (16/1) of Italy, Holger Rune (20/1) of Denmark, Tomas Machac (20/1) of the Czech Republic and Casper Ruud (22/1) of Norway follow in the betting market.
