ATP Tokyo

ATP Tokyo tennis is live from 1-7 October with play starting around 12pm local/4am BST. Bookmaker bet365 are offering customers the opportunity to watch a live stream of the matches alongside in-play betting.

Home favourite and one-time 'Project 45' Kei Nishikori, who became the first Japanese man to triumph in Tokyo since Toshiro Sakai in 1972 when he won the first of his two titles in 2012, will once again be the star attraction at the Japan Open as he looks to build on a season which has seen him deal with the aftermath of a wrist injury to reach the final of the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters and feature in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon and the semifinals of the US Open - but in which an ATP World Tour title has so far eluded him. Could he thrill the crowds by making it a hat-trick of Japan Open crowns in 2018?

World no. 12 Nishikori is joined by defending champion David Goffin, who captured the Tokyo title 12 months ago as part of a brilliant run which saw him win back-to-back titles in Shenzhen and the Japanese capital, going on to qualify for the ATP Finals where he defeated both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal on the way to the final.

World no. 6 and Australian Open runner-up Marin Cilic will headline the field as the top seed, with 2015 Rakuten Japan Open champion Stan Wawrinka also in the draw as he continues to try to rebuild his ranking after knee surgeries in 2017. 

The field for the 2018 Rakuten Japan Open also features a crop of bright young stars, starting with Canada Masters runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas and including Canada's Denis Shapovalov, the USA's Frances Tiafoe and Australia's Alex de Minaur.

One of two 500-level tournaments played in Asia during the month of October, the Rakuten Japan Open is always a popular and hard-fought event among the top players it attracts to battle for ranking points, prize money - and glory.

Offering US$ 1,563,795 in prize money as well as 500 ranking points to the champion, the Japan Open is played on the hard courts of the Ariake Forest Park where the tennis centre boasts 48 tennis courts, including its main stadium, the Ariake Coliseum - one of the first tennis tournaments to be equipped with a retractable roof.

As tennis becomes ever more popular in Asia and the ATP World Tour and WTA Tour both boost their profile in the region, the Rakuten Japan Open now occupies a significant place in the autumn Asian swing on the men's tennis calendar. Preceded by 250-level events in Chengdu and Shenzhen after the US Open, the Rakuten Japan Open is one of two 500-level events - the other being the China Open in Beijing - played the week preceding the Shanghai Rolex Masters, the penultimate Masters 1000 Series event of the season.

As a 500-level event and with the ATP World Tour Finals fast approaching, the Rakuten Japan Open is also a key battleground in the fight to qualify as one of the 'elite eight' - the eight players who have performed the best throughout the season and who duel to win the last, big, crowning prize of the year. 

The longest-running ATP World Tour tennis tournament in Asia, the Japan Open was launched in 1972 and featured an all-Japanese final for its very first edition, when Toshiro Sakai beat Jun Kuki to claim the inaugural title. It wasn't until 2012, when Kei Nishikori beat Milos Raonic, that the Japan Open would crown another homegrown champion - and there still hasn't been another all-Japanese final in Tokyo. The profile of Japanese tennis is rising, however, with the accomplished Nishikori continuing to feature near the top of the rankings while Naomi Osaka won her first Grand Slam title at the 2018 US Open, and both are likely to be prominently featured in the run-up to the Toyko Olympics in 2020.

There have been no shortage of stars who have triumphed at the Rakuten Japan Open: From Australian great Ken Rosewall (1973) to Ivan Lendl (1980), John McEnroe (1988) and Roger Federer in (2006), many of tennis's best male players have chosen to complete in Tokyo - often not just once, but many times. Stefan Edberg holds the record for most titles, winning the Japan Open four times between 1987 and 1991, while Pete Sampras won three titles in 1993-4 and 1996 and Jim Courier and Kei Nishikori have both won multiple titles in Tokyo.

In recent times, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (2009), Rafael Nadal (2010), Andy Murray (2011), Juan Martin del Potro (2013) and Stan Wawrinka (2015) have proved popular champions at the Rakuten Japan Open. In 2016, Nick Kyrgios beat second seed Gael Monfils and then David Goffin in a thrilling three-set final which went to 7-5 in the decider to become the fourth Australian - and the first since his mentor Lleyton Hewitt in 2001 - to claim the title. Goffin had his revenge in 2017 when he won back-to-back titles in Shenzhen and at the Tokyo Open, defeating France's Adrian Mannarino in the final.