Taylor Fritz, Casper Ruud take Tokyo openers; Beatriz Haddad Maia, Magda Linette fall in Nanchang

TOKYO (AP) — Top-seeded Taylor Fritz and second-seeded Casper Ruud both won their opening matches Tuesday at the Japan Open.

Fritz beat 18th-ranked Cameron Norrie 6-4, 6-3 and Ruud defeated wild-card entry Yosuke Watanuki 7-6 (8), 6-3.

Fritz, ranked 10th in the world, had 13 aces and broke Norrie three times to improve to 7-6 against the British player.

The 25-year-old American will next play Japanese wild-card Shintaro Mochizuki, who beat Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-4, 7-6 (5).

Ruud will next face American player Marcus Giron.

Other winners included Alex de Minaur, Alexei Popyrin, Ben Shelton, Cristian Garin and Diego Schwatzman.

Top-seeded Beatriz Haddad-Maia and second-seeded Magda Linette were both eliminated in the first round of the Jiangxi Open.

Nao Hibino upset Haddad-Maia 7-6 (2), 6-3, while Valeria Savinykh beat Linette 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (3).

Sixth-seeded Anna Blinkova also lost, falling to Chinese qualifier You Xiaodi 6-1, 6-1, while Hong Kong Open winner Leylah Fernandez defeated wild-card Guo Hanyu 6-1, 6-3.

Other winners included Aliaksandra Sasnovich, Varvara Gravach and Ulrikke Eikeri.