CHENGDU, September 23, 2023 (Press Release)
Tournament top seed Alexander Zverev had a winning debut here at the Chengdu Open, defeating qualifier Pavel Kotov 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 6-1 in two hours and 25 minutes in Saturday’s featured Centre Court match.
Despite struggling at times with his first serve and making a number of unforced errors, the world No. 10 notched eight aces and converted three of the six break points he fashioned to make his tenth ATP Tour quarterfinal of the season.
Quarter-Final No.9️⃣ of the season!
Zverev is through to his third consecutive Quarter-Final with a 7-6 4-6 6-1 over Kotov 👏#ChengduOpen pic.twitter.com/VYph7C3Xus
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) September 23, 2023
“My performance wasn’t great, to be honest, but I got through it. That’s the most important thing for today, because I am somebody that sometimes does not play the best in first round matches and then kind of gets going in the tournament, so hopefully that’s the case here as well,” said the 26-year-old, who is now on a 10-match winning streak against players ranked outside of the Top 100.
Zverev will play Miomir Kecmanovic in tomorrow’s penultimate match on Centre Court, after the seventh seeded Serb completed a 6-2, 6-4 second round victory over Corentin Moutet in one hour and 35 minutes on Court 1 earlier in the day.
Former World No. 2 Zverev has a 1-1 head-to-head record against Kecmanovic, losing to the Serb at the 2019 Cincinnati Masters in three sets but taking a straight sets victory in their most recent encounter at the 2020 Paris Masters.
“I think I have to play much better than today (against Kecmanovic), that’s for sure, but I’m here to play good tennis and hopefully I can do that tomorrow,” added the German.
Meanwhile, tournament second seed Lorenzo Musetti overcame a formidable challenge from gutsy Australian qualifier Philip Sekulic to prevail 7-6 (7-3), 6-7 (4-7), 6-0 in two hours and 54 minutes on Centre Court.
The 20-year-old Sekulic, who secured his first Tour-level win in the first round, put on an inspiring performance in front of a vociferous crowd in the first two sets, but could not sustain his momentum against his world No. 18 opponent in the decider.
“Today for sure was not an easy match. I think he played his best tennis, but he was struggling a bit physically at the end and I took advantage of that. It’s nice to be back in China, and there’s a really nice crowd of fans, so I’m happy to be reaching the quarterfinal here,” said the 21-year-old Italian, who will make his ninth ATP Tour quarterfinal appearance of the season, but his first on hard courts.
Musetti next faces Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech, who moved past US-American Marcos Giron in his second-round match today, winning 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 in one hour and 40 mins to reach his third quarterfinal of the season.
In today’s first match on Centre Court, Bulgarian third seed Grigor Dimitrov attained a remarkable career milestone, completing his 400th ATP Tour victory with a 6-3, 6-4 second round win over Peru’s Juan Pablo Varillas.
Despite having his serve broken three times during the match, the World No. 20 was able to capitalise on Varillas’s struggles with his first serve, which landed at a percentage of just 40 per cent, to secure five breaks in seven opportunities and complete the memorable victory.
Remarkable Acheivement 👏@GrigorDimitrov| @ChengduOpen | #ChengduOpen pic.twitter.com/VMNQI0Dmaf
— ATP Tour (@atptour) September 23, 2023
“Coming from Europe, it hasn’t been the easiest transition for me to go out and play flawless tennis. Sometimes, in early matches, it is what it is. I hope to perform better tomorrow, but there are aspects I cannot really control. My focus is on my shots, adjusting to the conditions, the courts and the opponent,” said the 32-year-old former world No. 3.
Speaking on his momentous win, the top Bulgarian said: “I’ve gone through many ups and downs in my life and career, and I think everything is interconnected. I believe this 400th win is very significant for my personal growth, both as a person and as a validation of the player I am. As a player, you always want to improve, achieve more wins, win more tournaments, and achieve more in every aspect. Hopefully, I have quite a few more years to play and can increase that number. This is a significant milestone for me.”
Dimitrov will take on Aussie Christopher O’Connell for the first time on tour in tomorrow night’s closing Centre Court quarterfinal match.
The other quarterfinal to be played tomorrow promises to be tightly fought encounter between two closely ranked players meeting for the first time, with World No. 55 Roman Safiullin taking on Australian World No. 56 Jordan Thompson.
In doubles action today, Aussie partners Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson recorded a straightforward 6-1, 6-4 first round victory over Uruguayan-Finnish combo Ariel Behar and Patrik Niklas-Salminen to move into tomorrow’s quarterfinals.
The Australian duo will face the combo of Giron and New Zealand’s Rubin Statham tomorrow, who moved into the last eight following the retirement of third seeded Brazilian-Dutch pair Marcelo Demoliner and Matwe Middelkoop midway through the second set of their first-round encounter today.
Second seeded Portuguese-Brazilian doubles tandem Francisco Cabal and Rafael Matos have also moved into the quarterfinals in a similar fashion, with Aussie pair O’Connell and Aleksandar Vukic retiring after four games of their first-round encounter today. Cabal and Matos will face the Kazakh-Serb pairing of Alexander Bublik and Kecmanovic in tomorrow’s other quarterfinal.
In the two doubles quarterfinal matches that were contested today, top seeds Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul of France eased past John Peers and Safiullin to reach their sixth semifinal as a team this season, while the scratch pairing of Borges and Rinderknech upset the third seeded pair of Julian Cash and Robert Galloway 6-3, 4-6, 10-6 to move into the last four.
