Tenth seed Yuichi Sugita lost his opening men's singles match at the Winston-Salem Open against 19-year-old Taylor Fritz 6-3, 6-2 and was sent to an early second-round exit by the American on Tuesday.
Sugita, currently 43rd on the world rankings, was making his debut at the event but was brushed aside by the 116th-ranked Fritz in 1 hour, 6 minutes at the Wake Forest Tennis Complex.
Sugita is the only Japanese competing in the final ATP tune-up event before the U.S. Open. Sugita's compatriot and world No. 10 Kei Nishikori will miss the year's final Grand Slam after cutting his season short due to a right wrist injury.