Nick Kyrgios will play his first tournament since the quarterfinal loss at the last Grand Slam of the season and he seems to be ready to continue his meteoric rise in 2022.
The 27-years-old Australian started this season as world number 93, his lowest starting position since 2014, and climbed already to the 20th place of the ATP Rankings. With the ATP 500 event in Tokyo ahead of him, Nick Kyrgios can continue his rise as he's one of the top favourites to win the 2022 Japan Open.
The 2022 Wimbledon finalist enters the draw as fifth-seeded but that's because of more reasons. While he played only 12 tournaments this year, majority of his opponents played more than 20. Moreover, Kyrgios's best event in 2022 didn't award any points and that's also one of the reasons why the Australian isn't closer to the Top 10.
Casper Ruud, who played two Grand Slam finals in 2022 is the top-seeded player at the 2022 Japan Open and he may be also the biggest threat for Kyrgios. However, if the two meet, it will be in a final and given the relationship between them, the Australian would be considered the favourite.
In the first round of the tournament, Kyrgios will play against Chun Hsin Tseng and in case of victory, he will take on Kamil Majchrzak or world no. 355 Sho Shimabukuro in the second round. After two relatively simple matches, he should have his quarterfinal spot booked and that's where the tournament starts.
Although Taylor Fritz could be difficult quarterfinal opponent, he is certainly a player that the 2022 Australian Open doubles champion can beat and Borna Coric or Denis Shapovalov in the semifinals shouldn't also be a big obstacle for in-form Kyrgios.
Therefore, Nick Kyrgios is probably the biggest favourite to reach the final from his half of the draw and once he gets there, only Casper Ruud and Frances Tiafoe are probably capable of stopping him and so it will be interesting to see if the Australian can add his second singles title of the season.
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