The 22-year-old Frenchman, the 2024 champion here, has now won seven in a row in Tokyo. It was his fifth Top 10 win of the year, putting him level with Tiafoe with Yannick Sinner (10), ahead of Carlos Alcaraz and Flavio Cobolli (4 each).
Phils defeated France’s Luca Van Assche 6-3, 6-2 in the first round. Tiafoe, ranked No. 8, ended Kei Nishikori’s career in his opener with a 6-4, 6-4 win over the Japanese wild card.
The Phils next face Monegasque Valentin Vachereau, the No. 8 seed. Vacherot defeated Greek qualifier Stefanos Tsitsipas 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 in his first match on Friday night. The world No. 18 reached his seventh ATP Tour quarter-final and second at the ATP 500 level after beating Belgium’s Alexandre Blokx 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4) in the first round. Tsitsipas, ranked No. 44, defeated Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
In the bottom half, France’s Cyrian Jacquet took the biggest win of his career on Friday night. He defeated 19th-ranked Italian Luciano Darderi 6-3, 7-6 (5). The world number 86, who finished Holger Rohn’s first round tournament since suffering an Achilles injury, 6-3, 6-1 in the first round, reached his third ATP Tour quarter-final. Dardery had a 7-6 (3), 6-3 win over No. 6 Kasper Rudi of Norway in his opener.
Jaque will face Spain’s Jaume Munar, who defeated Portugal’s lucky James Faria 6-1, 6-1 on Friday night. The world No. 64 reached her fourth quarter-final of the season with a 6-7 (7), 6-4, 6-3 first-round victory over American Taylor Fritz, the No. 3 seed.
Tokyo Open 2026, 16th round
C. Alcaraz (1) vs. M. Arnaldi – Saturday October 3
D. Shapovalov vs A. Tabilo – Saturday October 3
J. Munar (Q) d. Jay Faria (LL) 6-1, 6-1
K. Jacquet (SE) d. L. Darder 6-3, 7-6 (5)
U. Humbert vs J. Lehecka – Saturday October 3
M. Berrettini vs A. Vallejo (Q) – Saturday October 3
V. Vacherot (8) d. S. Tsitsipas (Q) 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4
A. Son (Q) d. F. Tiafoe (2) 6-3, 7-5