After reaching the final last week at the Challenger tournament in Kobe, Jurij Rodionov’s final stop at this week’s Challenger in Yokohama is already after the first round.
The seventh-seeded Lower Austrian had to admit defeat to the Japanese wild card starter Rei Sakamoto 2:6, 4.6.
Sakamoto is only 18 years old and is considered a promising talent in his homeland. He is currently ranked 769th, a career high in the ATP rankings – but he will definitely be able to improve this in the coming week with his victory over Rodionov.
Novak in Montemar out
Dennis Novak is not faring much better than Rodionov at the Challenger in Montemar, Spain.
As number four on the seeding list, he lost to the Spanish local hero Miguel Damas (ATP 422) 4:6, 6:7 (2).
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