The 2023 Japan Open is stacked with big names, and the draw for this year's tournament has been released, eliciting plenty of excitement from fans.
Some incredible matchups are in store at one of the most prestigious ATP 500s on the tennis calendar, which features three of the world's Top 10 players in action. The race to Turin is simmering, and some of the aspirants like Alexander Zverev, Taylor Fritz, and Casper Ruud will be vying to collect the maximum available points next week.
Main draw action will run from October 16th to 22nd. Looking at the draw, defending champion Taylor Fritz has a treacherous path to the title. The lanky American will start the defense of his crown against British No. 1 Cameron Norrie.
Remarkably, they have played 12 times before this, with the head-to-head parity at 6-6. Fritz has won their last two meetings on Tour including at this year's United Cup. Should Fritz emerge triumphant again, he'll play one of Shintaro Mochizuki, who is a home wild card, or Argentina's Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the second round.
Russia's Karen Khachanov is the seventh seed and lurks in the top half of the draw as Fritz's likely quarterfinal opponent. But the Zhuhai champion will need to win the battle of the big hitters against rejuvenated Alexei Popyrin in his opening match, which is hardly a stroll in the park.
Alex de Minaur is on the cusp of the world's Top 10 and his bid to break that barrier could materialize in Tokyo. The Aussie has a mathematical chance of qualifying for Turin despite a costly early defeat in Shanghai. He starts against a qualifier.
The fourth-seeded De Minaur is guaranteed to face an Argentine in the second round as the current Argentina's No. 1 Francisco Cerundolo faces countryman Diego Schwartzman, once the chief flag bearer for his country, who had a decent week in Shanghai.
Elsewhere, Hubert Hurkacz and Zhizhen Zhang are scheduled for a rematch following their epic in Shanghai. The Pole needed a third-set tiebreak to beat China's rising star this week and will need to summon his best tennis again to combat the limitless talent of Zhang.
Whoever wins that match will face either sixth seed Frances Tiafoe or Aslan Karatsev. In the bottom half of the draw is where we can locate Casper Ruud. The second seed has a tricky opener against home wild card Yosuke Watanuki. If Ruud is successful. he could play Yoshihito Nishioka in the next round.
Ruud's projected quarterfinal opponent is Felix Auger-Aliassime. The Canadian is facing a massive rankings fall this autumn unless he can find form quickly. Auger-Aliassime will play Aleksandar Vukic in his opening match.
Germany's Alexander Zverev will begin his campaign against Australia's Jordan Thompson and is slated to meet Ben Shelton in the second round, provided both players navigate their side of the draw. For a complete breakdown of the 2023 Japan Open draw, be sure to check it down below.
2023 Japan Open Tokyo ATP Draw:
| 1. Taylor Fritz (1) |
| 2. Cameron Norrie |
| 3. Shintaro Mochizuki |
| 4. Tomas Martin Etcheverry |
| 5. Sho Shimabukuro |
| 6. Qualifier |
| 7. Alexei Popyrin |
| 8. Karen Khachanov (7) |
| 9. Alex de Minaur (4) |
| 10. Qualifier |
| 11. Francisco Cerundolo |
| 12. Diego Schwartzman |
| 13. Zhizhen Zhang |
| 14. Hubert Hurkacz |
| 15. Aslan Karatsev |
| 16. Frances Tiafoe (6) |
| 17. Tommy Paul (5) |
| 18. Daniel Altmaier |
| 19. Mackenzie McDonald |
| 20. Max Purcell |
| 21. Ben Shelton |
| 22. Qualifier |
| 23. Jordan Thompson |
| 24. Alexander Zverev (3) |
| 25. Felix Auger-Aliassime (8) |
| 26. Aleksandar Vukic |
| 27. Sebastian Ofner |
| 28. Christopher O'Connell |
| 29. Yoshihito Nishioka |
| 30. Qualifier |
| 31. Yosuke Watanuki |
| 32. Casper Ruud (2) |
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