The quarter-finals will get underway on Day Five of the Kinoshita Group Japan Open tomorrow, Friday, October 19. Here is our preview of the day, with Tommy Paul set to take on Ben Shelton while Alex de Minaur and Felix Auger-Aliassime also make an appearance.

First up in the Ariake Coliseum will be the all-American clash between Paul and Shelton. Their head-to-head is currently tied at 1-1, with Shelton having won their most recent clash at the US Open last month.

So far, fifth seed Paul has had a cleaner run at the ATP 500 tournament. Despite having to fight back from a set down against Daniel Altmaier, he proceeded to move past Mackenzie McDonald in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2, to set up the quarter-final clash.

Meanwhile, Shelton endured two tough three-set battles against Taro Daniel and Jordan Thompson but came through both times. The US Open semi-finalist will be aiming to dominate with his powerful serve but will need to keep his composure against his more experienced opponent.

Following this, eighth seed Auger-Aliassime will face qualifier Marcos Giron. The Canadian player leads their head-to-head 3-0, but their last encounter was over a year ago at the 2022 Halle Open. Since then, Auger-Aliassime has struggled a lot with his form and has suffered a long string of early exits from tournaments.

Nevertheless, after a difficult battle against Aleksandar Vukic, he flew past Sebastian Ofner in straight sets. Therefore, he will likely be hoping for a deep run here to redeem a tough season.

Next, fourth seed de Minaur will play against Aslan Karatsev. The Australian player had a tough time against Jack Draper in the first round but made it through in three sets and two tiebreaks before downing Diego Schwartzman 6-0, 7-5.

Meanwhile, his opponent Karatsev is yet to drop a set at the tournament, having moved past defending runner-up Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 7-6 (4) and Zhizhen Zhang 6-3, 6-4. His head-to-head with de Minaur is currently level at 1-1, meaning that it could be a close match.

Finally, wildcard Shintaro Mochizuki will face World No. 41 Alexei Popyrin. The home player, currently ranked No. 215 in the world, won his first ATP Tour-level title with his victory against Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the first round. The 20-year-old then shocked everyone by pulling off an incredible comeback against defending champion and Top 10 player Taylor Fritz, emerging victorious from a three-set battle 0-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2).

Popyrin also achieved an impressive win against seventh seed Karen Khachanov in the opening round before surviving a close-knit clash with Cristian Garin 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-2.