Japan Open 2023: Casper Ruud vs Yosuke Watanuki preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds, and pick

Match Details

Fixture: (2) Casper Ruud vs (WC) Yosuke Watanuki

Date: October 17, 2023

Tournament: Japan Open Tennis Championships 2023

Round: First round (Round of 32)

Venue: Ariake Coliseum, Tokyo, Japan

Category: ATP 500

Surface: Hard

Prize money: $2,013,940

Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | Canada - TSN | UK - Amazon Prime Video

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Casper Ruud vs Yosuke Watanuki preview

Casper Ruud at the 2023 China Open.

Second seed Casper Ruud will play against Yosuke Watanuki in the first round of the 2023 Japan Open.

It has been a rather tough season for Ruud, who's still not assured of a place at the ATP Finals. A runner-up finish at the French Open and the Swedish Open, along with a title at the Estoril Open, have been the highlights of his year. He's yet to reach a semifinal outside of clay.

Following a second-round exit from the US Open, where Ruud was the finalist a year ago, he arrived in Beijing for the China Open. He made it to the last eight there, but lost to Carlos Alcaraz.

Ruud then participated in the Shanghai Masters and defeated Yoshihito Nishioka and Christopher Eubanks to reach the fourth round. He faced Fabian Marozsan for a spot in the quarterfinals, but lost the match in three sets.

Watanuki's best result this year has been a third round showing at the Citi Open in Washington. It remains the only occasion where he managed two wins in a row. The Japanese did reach a final on the Challenge circuit last month, but lost the contest to Jordan Thompson.

Outside of the ATP Tour, Watanuki had a memorable week at the Asian Games in China. He made it all the way to the final, but lost the gold medal match against Zhizhen Zhang and had to settle for silver.

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Casper Ruud vs Yosuke Watanuki head-to-head

This will be the first meeting between them, so the head-to-head stands at 0-0 for now.

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Casper Ruud vs Yosuke Watanuki odds

Player	Moneyline	Handicap Bets	Total Games
Casper Ruud	-210	+1.5 (-550)	Over 22.55 (-120)
Yosuke Watanuki	+160	-1.5 (+333)	Under 22.5 (-120)

(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)

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Casper Ruud vs Yosuke Watanuki prediction

Yosuke Watanuki at the 2023 Asian Games.

Ruud needs to make a deep run here and in the forthcoming tournaments as well if he wants to make it to the ATP Finals. Should he fail to qualify for the year-end championships, where he was the runner-up last year, he'll end the season ranked outside the top 10.

The pressure could certainly prove to be too much for Ruud and impair his performance, or he could also rise to the occasion. Aside from his run at the Asian Games, Watanuki's results have been quite dismal.

Watanuki played his first match against a top 10 player just last week, which was at the Shanghai Masters. He gave Taylor Fritz quite the scare, but couldn't score the upset as he lost in three sets.

If Watanuki can be in the same form against Ruud, he could have a shot at winning. Anything less than his best leaves the door open for the Norwegian to advance to the next round.

Pick: Casper Ruud to win in three sets.