(Zhuhai) Returning to China for the first time in four years, Andy Murray won his first-round match at the Zhuhai Championship on Thursday, after defeating local favorite Mo Ye Cong 7-5, 6-3.
Murray, who is trying to secure a fifth title in China and a first since winning the Beijing Open in 2016, won the first set after breaking in the 12th game. The Briton, seventh seed in the tournament, then dominated his 23-year-old opponent in the second set, sealing the outcome of the match after an hour and 42 minutes of play.
The 36-year-old veteran will face world No. 63 Aslan Karatsev in the next round, who ousted Matteo Arnaldi 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 6-2.
Fifth seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry beat Australian Luke Saville 6-4, 6-4.
Other winners include Kimmer Coppejans, Cristian Garin, Marc Polmans and Alex Bolt.
Top seed Karen Khachanov meets Bolt in the second round, while second seed Cameron Norrie faces Polmans on Friday.
In Chengdu, American Marcos Giron disposed of fifth seed Alexander Bublik 7-6 (6), 6-3, while Australian Jordan Thompson ousted sixth seed Max Purcell 6-2, 7 -6 (8).
Giron, ranked 64th in the world, will meet in the next round with Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech, who defeated Tu Li 7-6 (5), 7-6 (6). For his part, Thompson will face Dusan Lajovic. The Serb took three sets to overcome Belgian Zizou Bergs 6-4, 1-6 and 6-3.
Juan Pablo Varillas easily eliminated China’s Cui Jie 6-1, 6-3, while seventh seed Miomir Kecmanovic defeated Benjamin Lock 6-2, 6-3.
Tournament favorite Alexander Zverev, along with Lorenzo Musetti, Grigor Dimitrov and Daniel Evans, will all play their second-round matches on Friday, after receiving a first-round bye.
In Guangzhou, Kazakh Yulia Putintseva upset third seed Tatjana Maria 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-0 after a marathon match lasting nearly three hours. She thus reached the semi-finals of a WTA 250 tournament for the first time since Istanbul in April 2022.
Putintseva will face tournament favorite Magda Linette after she ousted fifth seed Rebeka Masarova 7-5, 7-6 (6).
Greet Minnen toppled fourth seed Lucia Bronzetti 6-7(8), 6-4, 6-1. The Belgian, seeded seventh, will face the winner of the duel between Wang Xiyu and Viktoria Hruncakova in the semi-finals, who will meet later on Thursday.
