Alexander Zverev’s hopes of qualifying for the ATP Finals suffered a major setback with a first-round defeat at the hands of Jordan Thompson at the Japan Open.
The German enjoyed a return to form during the North American hard-court swing as he reached the Cincinnati Masters semi-final and US Open quarter-final, and he carried that momentum over to the Asian swing as he won the Chengdu Open before reaching the last eight at the China Open.
However, the wheels came off at the Shanghai Masters with a second-round loss and he has now followed it up with an opening defeat in Tokyo.
And the result has thwarted his ATP Finals chances as he will not pick up any points this week, leaving him in a precarious position.
Zverev is currently sixth in the Live Race To Turin with 3,415 points, but those outside the top eight are not too far behind and they can still make up ground in Tokyo and elsewhere.
Taylor Fritz is currently in ninth place and he is just 450 points behind the former world No 2 with Casper Ruud another 170 points adrift and Shanghai Masters champion Hubert Hurkacz another 20 points off the German’s total.
World No 1 Novak Djokovic as well as Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev and Jannik Sinner have already booked their places at the ATP Finals and four other players still need to confirm their spots.
Live Race To Turin Rankings
5. Andrey Rublev – 4,275 points
6. Stefanos Tsitsipas – 3,615
7. Alexander Zverev – 3,415
8. Holger Rune – 3,110
9. Taylor Fritz – 2,965
10. Casper Ruud – 2,795
11. Hubert Hurkacz – 2,775
Third seed Zverev admitted he was poor on Monday as he Thompson broke his serve in game four of the opening set. The German then opened a 2-0 lead in the second set, but the Australian broke back in game three and broke again in game nine.
“Today I played horrible,” he said. “He played quite good, he served quite good, but it’s just a very, very bad match for me. I don’t know what to say.”
Those below Zverev in the Race will have the chance to close the gap as Fritz will face Cameron Norrie in the first round in Japan on Tuesday, Ruud takes on Yosuke Watanuki while Hubert faces Zhang Zhizhen.
Rune is in action at the ATP 250 Stockholm Open and will face either Miomir Kecmanovic or Karl Friberg in the second round.
Meanwhile, eighth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime picked up his first ATP Tour win since the Cincinnati Masters in August with a 7-6 (7-3), 6-7 (2-7), 6-2 win over Aleksandar Vukic at the Japan Open.
The Canadian had lost first-round matches at the US Open, China Open and Shanghai Masters.
“It is a big relief. There have been tough times lately where I was wondering what to do,” Auger-Aliassime said. “I have to keep on training and believing and hope my level will come back. I am happy to get the victory today. It is a positive.”
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