Stefanos Tsitsipas’ struggles continued as he was eliminated from the Japan Open after losing in the first round to American Alex Michelsen, with a scoreline of 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 on Thursday. Despite taking the first set, the world number 12 was unable to maintain his momentum against the 49th-ranked Michelsen, who dominated the latter stages of the match, which lasted 1 hour and 48 minutes.
This defeat marks another disappointing early exit for Tsitsipas, who also fell in the first round of the US Open last month. His performance has raised concerns, especially after he announced the end of his long-standing coaching partnership with his father, Apostolos.
Following his loss to Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis at the US Open, Tsitsipas admitted to experiencing “long-term burnout,” stating that he felt “nothing compared to the player I was before.”
Once ranked as high as number three in the world, Tsitsipas has now slipped out of the top 10 and has only managed to secure two titles over the past two seasons.
In other matches at the Japan Open, Britain’s Jack Draper, a US Open semi-finalist, advanced to the second round after defeating Italian qualifier Mattia Bellucci 6-4, 6-2. American Tommy Paul, the fifth seed, also moved forward, beating Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi 6-3, 6-2. In a closely contested match, Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka triumphed over Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime with a score of 7-6 (7/5), 3-6, 7-6 (7/5), in a match that lasted 3 hours and 12 minutes.
