Beijing [China], September 26 : Alexander Zverev, Alex de Minaur and Jakub Mensik strengthened their chances of qualifying for the season-ending ATP Finals with crucial wins in their China Open clashes on Friday.
De Minaur solidified his eighth spot in the ATP Live Race to Turin, beating home favourite Buyunchaokete 6-4, 6-0. On hard courts, he leads the charts with 32 wins, and the Aussie is aiming for a second ATP Finals appearance, having made his debut last year, as per the ATP's official website.
Mensik registered a move up to 18th spot in the Live Race to Turin, securing a 7-5, 6-4 win over Miomir Kecmanovic. While he is 1,115 points away of De Minaur in the qualification spots, he would like to stay optimistic about his chances as ATP Season comes to close on hard courts. He reached the ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinals in Shanghai last year on his debut and captured his first trophy at this level in Miami this year, stunning the legendary 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic in the final.
De Minaur will next play Arthur Rinderknech in the next round. The 30-year-old French player fell to David Goffin in the final round of qualifying, but he took his revenge against the Belgian by winning 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 just two days later, appearing in the main draw as "lucky loser".
Mensik has set for himself a second-round meeting with Arthur Cazaux, who rallied past home wild card Shang Juncheng 0-6, 7-6(5), 7-5.
Zverev also secured his spot in the second round of the tournament, defeating Lorenzo Sonego 6-4, 6-3 to maintain his perfect 6-0 record against him. The two-time ATP Final champion, who is currently third in the ATP Live Race to Turin, has reached semifinal in Beijing in three of his past four appearances in main draw..
His next round match will be against Corentin Moutet, who backed up his semi-final run in Hangzhou by moving past Tallon Griekspoor 6-4, 7-5.
Also, after securing his fourth title of the season last week at Hangzhou, Bublik moved to 12th in the ATP Live Race to Turin, but could not overcome Adrian Mannarino in the opener of the China Open, losing 6-3, 6-2.
Mannarino's next challenge will be Lorenzo Musetti, who defeated Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 7-6(3), 6-7(4), 6-4 in two hours and 24 minutes. Mussetti faced his second successive Chengdu final loss on Tuesday, but bounced back with a hard-fought win in Beijing. The 23-year-old, currently at seventh spot in the ATP Live Race to Turin, would also be aiming to reach ATP Finals and make his debut there.
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