CHENGDU, September 17, 2024 (Press Release)
The Chengdu Open 2024, running from 17-24 September at the Sichuan International Tennis Centre, moves into the main draw on Wednesday with three first-round matches set for Centre Court from 1pm local time.
Italian Lorenzo Sonego is the highest ranked singles player in action, with the sixth seed facing Japan’s Taro Daniel in the day’s second Centre Court match. The two last met at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, where world No. 50 Sonego came back from a set down to secure a hard-fought victory.
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Rising 21-year-old star Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard is the other seeded player in action and will take on local wild card Sun Fajing in tomorrow night’s feature match. World No. 359 Sun is seeking his first Chengdu Open win in four appearances, but he faces a tough challenge in world No. 51 Perricard, who clinched his maiden title in Lyon this year and reached the Wimbledon fourth round on his Grand Slam debut.
Wednesday’s other Centre Court match will feature a compelling first-time meeting between Australia’s Adam Walton and Slovakia’s Lukas Klein, two players who achieved career-best rankings last month.
Walton, who began the 2024 season ranked No. 176, broke into the Top 100 in May and reached a career-high of No. 86. His rise has been marked by an impressive 30-14 record in Challengers, including titles in Burnie-2 and Taipei. Klein, on the other hand, hit a career high of No. 109 and has showcased strong performances in top tournaments this year, reaching the second round of the Australian Open as a qualifier and advancing to the second round at Indian Wells and Madrid, also as a qualifier.
Walton will also feature in doubles later in the day alongside his Japanese partner Toshihide Matsui. The duo will face third seeds Yuki Bhambri of India and Albano Olivetti of France in the only doubles first round match scheduled for Wednesday.
Qualifying underway
The finals of the qualifying round are also set to take place Wednesday, featuring two local players who exceeded expectations with upset victories in the first round. With the mid-Autumn festival being celebrated today, the public holiday drew a lively crowd that was rewarded with strong performances from both emerging and veteran Chinese players.
World No. 268 Bai Yan, a seasoned veteran of Chinese tennis at 35, opened the action on Centre Court. He showed great resilience, overcoming a one-set deficit to secure his first ATP Tour win of the year, defeating Japan’s Sho Shimabukuro 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 in just over two hours.
In the following match, 26-year-old Cui Jie captured his maiden Chengdu Open victory in three attempts. He comfortably overcame Chinese Taipei’s Hsu Yu Hsiou 6-4, 6-2 in one hour and 23 minutes, breaking his opponent three times while saving the only break point he faced in a dominant display against the higher-ranked player.
In the final match, 16-year-old Charles Chen, the tournament’s youngest player, threatened yet another upset when he clinically won the opener against Japan’s Shintaro Mochizuki, with a first-serve percentage of 73 per cent and converting the only break chance he had. However, 21-year-old former world No.1 junior Mochizuki rallied in the following two sets to win 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 in one hour and 45 minutes.
