BEIJING, October 3, 2019
Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas headlined Thursday’s second-round match of the China Open. Zverev defeated Canadian young gun Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 6-1.
The No. 2 seed from Germany played confidently, didn’t face a break point and converted four of his own seven chances to advance in one hour and two minutes. With this win, the reigning ATP Finals champion leapfrogged into 10th place in the ATP Race To London.
Wasting no time 💨@AlexZverev rolls past Auger-Aliassime in just over an hour to book a place in the @ChinaOpen last 8! pic.twitter.com/MKqge9g2ko
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) October 3, 2019
Zverev will next take on US-American Sam Querrey, who beat Diego Schwartzman of Argentina 7-6(2), 6-7(6), 6-3.
“He hit some great shots, and I actually felt pretty good. I mean, I was worried obviously, but deep down, even if I lost that set 6-1 or 6-0, I still felt good and felt like I was going to get things going eventually,” Querrey said in a post-match interview.
Earlier in the day, Tsitsipas rallied past Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. The No. 3 seed from Greece struck eight aces and won 73 per cent of his first-service points to prevail after two hours and eight minutes.
“In the second and third sets, I felt really comfortable,” Tsitsipas said during a post-match press conference. “I returned well, served well and did everything well.”
Tsitsipas will face John Isner from the United States on Friday. The World No. 19 edged out British qualifier Dan Evans 7-6(3), 7-5.
