Tokyo, 27 September 2024 | Dan Imhoff

Jordan Thompson has set a second-round showdown with home favourite and former world No.4 Kei Nishikori in Tokyo after toppling fourth seed Casper Ruud for the second time this season.

Thompson defeated Ruud for his maiden ATP 500 title at Los Cabos, Mexico in February and has since climbed into the top 30 following a strong North American hard-court swing, which included a runner-up showing in Atlanta and a fourth round at the US Open.

His 7-6(5) 6-1 opening win at the ATP 500 event in Tokyo improved his record against top-10 opponents since the start of 2023 to 5-7 and levelled his overall head-to-head against the Norwegian at 3-all.

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“Really pleased to get the W and in straight sets, which is unusual for me,” Thompson told TennisTV.

“Could’ve gone either way. Pulled a lucky shot out there at 5-all in the tiebreak. I thought we were playing great tennis in that first set. First game of the second, down love-40 and it was a big hold and got out to a 5-love lead, so it was just about holding that momentum.”

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Thompson, who became a Grand Slam doubles champion at the US Open with Max Purcell, said the success had little bearing on his singles game.

“It doesn’t really affect me that much,” he said. “I lost the Wimbledon final [in doubles] after holding match points and got straight back on the horse and made the final in Atlanta in singles and, you know, didn’t really have that hangover, so I don’t let it get to me too much, but I’ll definitely take the title of Grand Slam champion.”

Fellow Australian Chris O’Connell landed a 6-4 7-6(5) victory over Argentine world No.35 Tomas Martin Etcheverry, but world No.23 Alexei Popyrin was not so fortunate.

In a rematch of his Montreal Masters first round, Popyrin succumbed to Czech Tomas Machac 6-3, 6-7(5) 7-5.

The 79^th-ranked O’Connell set a second-round meeting with fellow qualifier, American Alex Michelsen, who downed fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.

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