TENNIS:Marin Cilic Ease through First round Japan Open

Top seed Marin Cilic book his place in the second round of the Japan Open with a clear 6-2 and 6-2 win over Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Second-placed Wimbledon Cilic needed only 73 minutes to advance while hoping to improve on last year's performance in Tokyo as a semifinalist.

He will then face No. 214 Yasutaka Uchiyama, who beat Croatian Franko Skugor 6-3 3-6 6-1, and Cilic was satisfied with a strong start to his tournament.

"He's a good player, a future male tennis star, who forced me to find my best level and a good pace," he said.

"In the end I liked the way I served and how I played.

US Open finalist Kevin Anderson kept his hopes of a place in the World Cup Finals in London with a 6-2 and 7-6 win over Gilles Simon

With Stan Wawrinka and Novak Djokovic already through for the rest of the season by injury, Anderson is only one place away from a qualifying spot and a good race in Tokyo will put him in the fight for an unlikely O2 spot.

Anderson will face American Ryan Harrison, who needed three sets to defeat Japan's Yusuke Takahashi, while Frenchman Adrian Mannarino ended the hopes of wild-card Go Soeda with a 7-5 7-6 win that takes him to a second round with Jiri Vesely.

Vesely ended the hopes of Albert Ramos-Vinolas, who became the first victim seeded after a defeat by 6-2 2-6 and 6-3 to the Czech.

And Bernard Tomic, now ranked 149th in the world, won a rare victory over Portugal's Joao Sousa in three sets for his first ATP success since Eastbourne in June.

In Beijing, at the China Open, Briton Aljaz Bedene got a stunning win over Marcel Granollers, leaving him with a 6-4 winner and 6-2 to advance to a meeting with another Spaniard.

Bedene will face fifth seed Roberto Bautista Agut, who dropped just four games in a 6-1 6-3 victory over Chinese qualifier Ze Zhang.

Pablo Carreno Busta was the highest profile after a consecutive set defeat to Belgian qualifier Steve Darcis, a defeat that knocks his hopes of qualifying for the O2, as he is currently seventh in the standings.

The world No. 4 Alexander Zverev tops the field in China this week and begins his campaign against British No. 2 Kyle Edmund on Tuesday - the winner will face Fabio Fognini after the Italian defeated the Netherlands Robin Haase 7-6 6-2.

The news was mixed for a couple of the other big names on the screen as Fernando Verdasco crashed into the hands of Dusan Lajovicbut Mischa Zverev beat Lan Lennard Struff to advance.