Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz had no difficulty reaching the quarter-finals of the China Open by defeating Lorenzo Musetti 6-2, 6-2 on Sunday.
Tournament favorite Alcaraz hit 18 winners and broke the Italian four times in the 81-minute victory. He became the first player to win 60 matches on the ATP Tour this season.
Alcaraz will now have an appointment with the Norwegian Casper Ruud (no 7), who worked hard to show Tomas Martin Etcheverry the exit door in three sets of 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7).
Later on Sunday, Holger Rune (bo 3) will face Grigor Dimitrov while Jannik Sinner (no 6) will cross swords with Yoshihito Nishioka.
In her first match as the top ranked player in the world, Aryna Sabalenka dominated Sofia Kenin to win 6-1, 6-2 in the first round in Beijing.
The Belarusian hit 22 winners against just nine unforced errors against the 31st player in the world. Sabalenka confirmed her victory after working for 67 minutes, in her first outing since the US Open.
“Honestly, I didn’t expect to play my serve so well,” Sabalenka analyzed. In training, it didn’t work well. I am very happy to have been able to provide this level of service today. I think it helped a lot. »
Sabalenka, who is seeking a fifth WTA title in China and a first since 2019, will now face Katie Boulter or Magdalena French in the second round.
Anhelina Kalinina, for her part, surprised the champion at Wimbledon, Marketa Vondrousova (no 8), in three sets of 1-6, 6-4, 6-1. The Ukrainian will now have in her path Daria Saville, who defeated Katerina Siniakova 6-2, 6-2.
Liudmila Samsonova, Jennifer Brady and Yulia Putintseva also won their first round duel.