Alexander Zverev beat Lorenzo Sonego 6-4 6-3 in q hour and a half to reach the second round at the China Open in Beijing.
Zverev served at 82% and dropped 12 points in 10 service gams. The German player was broken once from the only break point he faced and converted three of his four break points. Zverev hit 23 winners to 13 unforced errors.
Sonego held serve with an ace to draw level to 4-4. Zverev held serve at 15 and earned three set points with a backhand down the line winner. The German won an entertaining point on his first opportunity to close out the first set in 51 minutes.
Zverev held three service games to love in the second set. The German player earned a break point in the fourth game with a forehand crosscourt winner and broke serve to open up a 3-1 lead. Zverev hit another forehand winner in the fifth game to extend his lead to 4-1.
Zverev went up a double break in the sixth game to race out to a 5-1 lead when Sonego made a double fault in the sixth game. Sonego pulled one of the breaks back with a forehand winner, as Zverev was serving for the win. Sonego hit a backhand winner in the eighth game to reduce the deficit to 3-5. Zverev hit an ace in the ninth game to seal a straight-set win improving to 6-0 in his head-to-head series against Sonego. Zverev will face Corentin Moutet, who moved past Tallon Griekspoor 6-4 7-5 one week after reaching the semifinal in Hangzhou.
Alexander Bublik lost to Adrian Mannarino 6-3 6-2 in his opening match in Beijing a few days after winning his fourth title of the year in Hangzhou.
Mannarino set up a match against Lorenzo Musetti, who battled past Giovanni Mpetchi Perricard 7-6 (7-3) 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 in 2 hours and 27 minutes.
Musetti did not convert three break points in the third game of the opening set, but he went down a 15-40 before converting his second break point in the seventh game.
Musetti saved two break-back points in the eighth game. Mpetchi Perricard broke back in the 10th game to draw level to 5-5. Musetti won three consecutive points from 2-2 to take a 5-2 lead and earned a second break point to win the tie-break 7-3 after 59 minutes.
Both players went on serve in the second set. Only the ninth game went at deuce, but Musetti held on serve without facing break points. Musetti earned the first mini-break to take a 4-3 lead, but Mpetch Perricard won the next four points to seal the tie-break 7-4.
Musetti earned the decisive break in the third game of the decisive set. The Italian top 10 player won three consecutive games from 0-1 down to take a 3-1 lead with a break in the third game. Only the eighth game went at deuce. Musetti went on serve in the next games easily and sealed the third set 6-4 on his first match point to reach th round of 16
Musetti had issues in his left thigh between the second and third sets. The Italian served with 66% of first serves in play and won 78% of points and 63% with the second.
