After two years without tennis, Tokyo will once again host an ATP tournament, with Casper Ruud and Alexander Zverev signing up for the first post-pandemic Japan Open.
The Japan Open has traditionally been a significant event in the Asian swing of the tennis calendar. It’s been an ATP 500 event for a while, which was good enough for some big names to attend in the past.
While it wasn’t held for the past two years due to the pandemic, it will be making a comeback in 2022, with already a few players committing to the event.
Ruud has never played in Tokyo before, but he will this year as he’s one of the players who signed up for the event. The official announcement came from the social media page of the event itself.
Another player who was announced alongside Ruud is Alexander Zverev, who also never played at the event before. Zverev did play in Tokyo before, as he participated in Tokyo last year when the 2020 Summer Olympics were held there.
The German has very fond memories of the event, having won the gold medal, and now he’ll have a chance to possibly add an ATP trophy as well. The courts are not the same, but he’ll be familiar with the setting much more than Ruud, for whom this will be the first time at the event.
It’s expected that more players will follow suit, as it’s an ATP 500 event, so plenty of points to win. Kei Nishikori was also announced as part of the players who signed up, but that was a given, considering that it’s the only Japanese event on the calendar.
As a Japanese player, he wouldn't want to miss that, and this trio should be followed by even more players in the coming weeks.
Players Announcement ! We are pleased to announce the participation of the following players for the Rakuten Open 2022; Alexander Zverev (World No.2) Casper Ruud (World No.6) Kei Nishikori Shingo Kunieda Tickets will be available at Rakuten Ticket from July 29th (Fri.) at 10:00!
