THREE MATCH POINTS SAVED, #3 SEEDS DOWN — FUJIWARA-SAWAKI STUN IN TOKYO
| July 2, 2026
Home ground buff is real at the Sansan Tokyo Open 2026.
The hosts held serve across the board on the opening day of main draw action, booking semifinal spots in both draws — headlined by one of the great escapes of the 2026 season and backed up by Nasa Hatakeyama’s continued singles surge.
The biggest drama came as Rika Fujiwara and Kei Sawaki saved three match points to knock out #3 seeds Yufei Long and Andie Dikosavljevic 12-10, 9-11, 12-10 in the Women’s Doubles quarterfinals. Long and Dikosavljevic edged the first game 11-10 and moved 10-7 up in the third, three points from the semifinals. Fujiwara and Sawaki did not give them a single one. They saved the match points, took the game 12-10 and walked off the winners to cheers from the stands. Next up in the semifinals are Yu-Chieh Hsieh and Sophia Nhi Huynh.
FOLLOW TOURNAMENT ACTION
Meanwhile in the Men’s Singles Nasa Hatakeyama brought his signature southpaw style to his home courts with big results. Two wins on the opening day and the Japanese star is through to the semifinals, extending the breakthrough silver-medal form he first showed at the Panas Kuala Lumpur Open last May.
His round of 16 draw was an all-Japan tie against #5 seed Kenta Miyoshi, the world No.29 and a bronze medalist at the Sansan Fukuoka Open 2025. The two traded blows across three tight games, chasing each other down point for point. Miyoshi took the second 11-10 to force a decider. Then he ran out of steam. Hatakeyama soared away with the third 11-1 to seal it.
Next up was Malaysia’s Jimmy Liong, fresh off knocking out #4 seed Grayson Goldin in the round of 16. Liong could not repeat the trick. Hatakeyama took the win 11-7, 11-5 in straight games to book his semifinal spot.
Waiting for him is Mitchell Hargreaves who pulled off a huge upset on his way to the final four. The Australian opened his tournament with a three-game win over Zane Navratil, then walked into the quarterfinals and took down #2 seed Tama Shimabukuro. Shimabukuro, the American world No.12, took the opening game 11-9. Hargreaves flipped it 11-5 in the second and closed it out 11-9 to hand the teenager and recent Macao Open gold medalist a surprise exit.
The two semifinalists have met once before, and it was at the tour’s first ever stop. Hargreaves defeated Hatakeyama 11-0, 11-5 in the Round of 16 at the Panas Malaysia Open 2025. A very different Hatakeyama arrives this time around.
The bottom half of the draw brings a Beijing final rematch. Hong Kit Wong and Zane Ford meet in the second semifinal, four weeks on from Wong winning that final 11-5, 11-8. Both cruised through their opening day, winning their Round of 16 and quarterfinal matches in straight games.
Semifinal action kicks off at 9am (GMT+9) on Friday. Admission is free for fans to watch all Championship Court matches at Arena Tachikawa Tachihi.
Check out the complete results from today’s pickleball here.
