No. 1 seed Marin Cilic has reached the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships quarter-finals. Croatia's Cilic had no problems against wildcard Yasutaka Uchiyama in Tokyo 6-3 6-4. It was the first-ever meeting between the two.
World No. 214 Uchiyama held on until the eighth game. Cilic converted his first break point of the match for a 5-3 lead. The Croatian then routinely served out for the first set in the following game.
Cilic continued his run by starting the second set with a break. Uchiyama had a break point in the eighth game to make it 4-4 but didn't convert.
The No. 1 seed served out for the set and the match in the 10th game.
Cilic fired 14 aces and won 88 percent of his first serve points during the match. Cilic converted each of his two break point chances and saved Uchiyama's only break point opportunity of the match. The decisive moment in the match was Cilic's streak of five games in a row won. The clash came to an end after an hour and 13 minutes of play.
Cilic plays Harrison next
Cilic is now set to meet world No. 52 Ryan Harrison in the Tokyo quarter-finals. USA's Harrison surprised No. 5 seed Kevin Anderson 6-3 1-6 7-6 (7-2). Harrison has earned his first-ever win over Anderson. Previously, Anderson beat the American in Atlanta in 2013 and in Stockholm a year ago.
Harrison saved Anderson's two break points before he opened up a 3-2 lead. Harrison then converted his first break point in the match in the sixth game for a 4-2 lead. The American held on to his serve the rest of the way to clinch the opener.
Anderson saved two consecutive break points in the third game to open up a 2-1 second set lead.
Anderson then broke Harrison for the first time in the match for a 3-2 lead. One more break of serve in the sixth game helped the No. 5 seed force a decider.
As no breaks of serve were seen, the third set went into a tie-break. Harrison won the opening five points to claim a comfortable 5-0 lead. Anderson saved the American's first match point to make it 6-2 but that was all.
Harrison broke Anderson once and saved 5-of-7 of the South-African's break point chances. Anderson fired 24 aces and won 79 percent of his first serve points during the match. Interestingly, Anderson won a total of 88 points, while Harrison collected 84. It took just over two hours for the match to come to an end.
Harrison hoping for an upset
Cilic and Harrison will be meeting for the sixth time when they clash off in Tokyo. Harrison has been a favorable matchup for Cilic so far. Cilic has four wins and just one loss against Harrison. The American's only win over the Croatian came in Acapulco last year. It remains to be seen can Harrison can pull off another upset and reach the semi-finals in Tokyo.
