BEIJING: German second seed Alexander Zverev carried his Laver Cup winning form into the China Open as he sailed into the second round with a 6-3 6-2 victory over wildcard Frances Tiafoe in Beijing on Monday. Zverev, who won the Laver Cup for Team Europe in a thrilling finale last week, fired 10 aces and won 78% of his first service points. He also broke the American three times to wrap up the contest in 70 minutes. Although Zverev had three double faults, he never dropped serve during the match, with Tiafoe failing to convert one break point. Fourth seeded Russian Karen Khachanov advanced after he saved three set points in the second set tiebreak to beat Uruguayan qualifier Pablo Cuevas 6-2 7-6(7). Andrey Rublev also won in straight sets, beating U.S. Open semi-finalist Grigor Dimitrov 6-2 7-5. The Russian broke Dimitrov twice in both sets to move into the next round in 75 minutes. Jeremy Chardy’s encounter with Italian Marco Cecchinato went the distance, with the Frenchman coming out on top with a 6-7(7) 6-3 7-6(4) victory in two hours and 21 minutes. Top seed Dominic Thiem is in action on Tuesday when he takes on veteran Frenchman Richard Gasquet while unseeded Andy Murray takes on Italy’s Matteo Berrettini.
Zverev, Khachanov through to second round at China Open
Published on: October 1, 2019 2:05 AM