Canadian player Vasek Pospisil once again struggled in singles competition today, this time at the Citi Open in Washington, D.C. After taking the first set in easy fashion, Japanese player Yūichi Sugita stormed back and proved he was ready for the task of defeating a top 100 player. He overcame his younger opponent to win 1-6, 6-2, 7-6.
Starting Strong
Pospisil was just 5-17 coming into his match today. He had to be more than pleased with the way he began his match. In the first set, Pospisil used his blazing speed and strong two-handed backhand to easily hold serve to begin the match. He would then go on to break Sugita twice as he easily claimed the first set. In the first set, he looked like the player that climbed as number 25 just a couple of years ago.
However, Sugita was undeterred by Pospisil's 6-1 opening set victory.
A career-defining upset
Sugita, for his part, has often struggled in his career as well. He has only been ranked in the top 100 once and is currently ranked 107 in the world. One would never know he was the lower ranked player and often had trouble defeating top opponents. He simply outplayed Pospisil throughout the duration of the match.
Sugita ripped several forehands down the line and pounded the hard court while Pospisil seemed to lose the zip on his returns. The young player found himself able to win just two games in the second set as Sugita had clearly turned the tide. The Japanese number three rolled in the second set 6-2.
That led to a final set tie-break due to the fact that both men would easily hold throughout the third set. In fact, neither man even faced a break point before the tie-break. Onlookers who backed the North American could have surmised Pospisil would rise to the occasion in the decider, yet, he did not. Sugita would surge ahead 5-2 and claim all momentum. After losing a mini-break, he would convert on his second match point and stun the crowd, as Pospisil lost another heartbreaking game at a tournament he once shined at.
Sugita now moves on after defeating yet another top 100 player. He previously took down young American Taylor Fritz in Halle. That match was also decided by three sets. However, the Japanese number three never trailed by a set as he did against Pospisil in D.C.
Pospisil, for his part, is now left once again searching for answers. Just two years ago he was a finalist in this tournament. Since then, he has had a precipitous fall down the ATP rankings. After a dismal showing at Wimbledon, the 26-year old spoke candidly about his current state of play, saying that it was "not my best effort." Many would question that same effort after he dropped consecutive sets to lose in the first round of another tournament.
While Pospisil is a player searching within himself to solve his recent woes, Sugita is surely hoping that his run of success is just getting started.