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Cape Town - South Africa’s No 1 tennis player Kevin Anderson was beaten in the first round of the Japan Open by Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic on Tuesday.
Vesely, the world No 52, rallied to beat Anderson 3-6, 6-0, 6-4 and set up a second round duel with Belgian fifth seed David Goffin.
Anderson, the world No 41, has struggled with injuries this season but came into the tournament on Tokyo on the back of reaching the quarter-finals at the Chengdu Open in China last week.
Local hope Kei Nishikori is the No 1 seed in Tokyo this week.
Results of first-round matches at the Japan Open men's tournament in Tokyo on Tuesday (x denotes seeding):
Jiri Vesely (CZE) bt Kevin Anderson (RSA) 3-6, 6-0, 6-4
David Goffin (BEL x5) bt Yoshihito Nishioka (JPN) 7-5, 6-2
Juan Monaco (ARG) bt Taylor Fritz (USA) 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/5)
James Duckworth (AUS) bt Feliciano Lopez (ESP x8) 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/4), 4-2 retired
Nick Kyrgios (AUS x6) bt Ryan Harrison (USA) 7-5, 6-2
Radek Stepanek (CZE) bt Stephane Robert (FRA) 6-2, 6-1
Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) bt Marcel Granollers (ESP) 6-1, 3-6, 6-3
Ivo Karlovic (CRO x7) bt Federico Del Bonis (ARG) 7-6 (8/6), 6-7 (6/8), 7-6 (7/5)
Gilles Simon (FRA) bt Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) 7-5, 4-6, 6-0
Gael Monfils (FRA x2) bt Yuichi Sugita (JPN) 6-3, 6-1
