The Round of 16 will continue on Day 4 of the Kinoshita Group Japan Open at the Ariake Tennis Forest Park in Tokyo. Here is our preview of the day at the ATP 500 tournament, with Taylor Fritz, Alex de Minaur, and Zhizhen Zhang among those set to take to the court. 

First up on Ariake Coliseum will be qualifier Cristian Garin's match against World No. 41 Alexei Popyrin. The Australian player pulled off a straight-sets win against seventh seed Karen Khachanov in the first round, while Garin came through a three-set battle against home player Sho Shimabukuro. Given these results, it is predicted that Popyrin will progress through this encounter. 

Next up, fourth seed de Minaur will face Diego Schwartzman. The Argentinian player is ranked World No. 113 but had a successful run at the Shanghai Masters last week, defeating twenty-seventh seed Jiri Lehecka and seventh seed Fritz on his way to the Round of 16. So far in Tokyo, he downed his compatriot Francisco Cerundolo 6-4, 6-1.

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Meanwhile, de Minaur will be aiming for a deep run here as he aims to put himself in contention for the ATP Finals. Despite it currently being a long shot for the Australian, this goal could still act as either motivation or as extra pressure for him. The World No. 13 fought back from a set down in a tight first-round match against Jack Draper.

Fritz to face home player as Zhang takes on Karatsev 

After 18:00, World No. 10 and top seed Fritz will face wildcard home player Shintaro Mochizuki. The latter is currently ranked World No. 215 and won his first-ever ATP Tour-level match against Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the opening round. 

Defending champion Fritz ousted World No. 18 Cameron Norrie in his previous round and the American's superior experience, consistency, and skill are expected to take him through this match in straight sets. However, it would not be impossible for Mochizuki to carry on the momentum and pull off an even greater surprise win. 

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Finally, World No. 57 Zhang will take on World No. 50 Aslan Karatsev. The Chinese player came through a close battle against Shanghai Masters champion Hubert Hurkacz in the first round, fighting back from a set down and winning the decider on a tiebreak.

At the same time, Karatsev defeated defending runner-up Frances Tiafoe in his opening match at the tournament with a straight-sets win, 6-3, 7-6 (4).

Their head-to-head is currently level at 1-1, with the Russian having won their most recent clash at the Madrid Open earlier this year.

Schedule Day 4 ATP Japan Open