Ningbo Open

Alex de Minaur denies Murray in Beijing; Ons Jabeur fends off Zvonareva in Ningbo

Elsewhere Thursday, Guadalajara champ Maria Sakkari beat Misaki Doi in the final match of the Japanese player's career in Tokyo.

ByAssociated Press

Published Sep 28, 2023

MATCH POINT: A. de Minaur def. A. Murray; Beijing 1R

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BEIJING (AP) — Alex de Minaur rallied from a break down in the deciding set to beat three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray, 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (6), Thursday in the first round of the China Open.

The 12th-ranked Australian trailed 5-3 in the third set with Murray serving for the match, but broke back before winning a tense tiebreaker to advance to the second round.

Eight of the top-10 ranked players are in Beijing for the China Open, including Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev.

The second-ranked Alcaraz will open against qualifier Yannick Hanfmann on Friday for his first competitive match since he reached the semifinals at the US Open. Medvedev will play Tommy Paul in the first round with de Minaur waiting for the second-seeded Russian in the next round.

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In first-round other matches, Tomas Martin Etcheverry defeated Lloyd Harris, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (4), 6-3, and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina beat Chinese wild card Yi Zhou, 6-2, 6-2.

At the Astana Open, Marcos Giron beat two-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (4), 7-6 (6), in a match where neither player had a break or even a break-point opportunity.

In other first-round matches, sixth-seeded Adrian Mannarino defeated Arthur Rinderknech, 7-6 (4), 6-2, Gregoire Barrere eliminated qualifier Jurij Rodionov, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5), and qualifier Sho Shimabukuro beat Roberto Carballes Baena, 6-2, 6-4.

Jabeur came into Tokyo ranked No. 7.

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Top-seeded Ons Jabeur beat Russian wild card Vera Zvonareva, 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 to advance to the semifinals of the Ningbo Open. Jabeur will next play either third-ranked Katerina Siniakova or Nadia Podoroska.

Second-seeded Petra Kvitova lost to Diana Shnaider 6-1, 4-6, 6-3. Shnaider will next play Linda Fruhvirtova, who defeated eighth-seeded Lucia Bronzetti, 6-0, 6-3.

Fourth-seeded Maria Sakkari beat Misaki Doi, 6-3, 6-1, in the final match of the Japanese player's career to reach the Toray Pan Pacific Open quarterfinals in Tokyo.

Sakkari will next face fifth-seeded Caroline Garcia, who defeated Anhelina Kalinina, 6-4, 6-3.

Also, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova beat Linda Noskova, 6-3, 4-6, 6-0, and sixth-seeded Daria Kasatkina defeated qualifier Despina Papamichail, 6-4, 6-4.

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