Jannik Sinner of Italy competes in the men's singles first-round match against Nicolas Jarry of Chile at the China Open in Beijing, September 26, 2024. /CFP
No. 1 seed Jannik Sinner of Italy defeated Nicolas Jarry of Chile 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 in the men's singles first-round match to advance at the China Open in Beijing on Thursday.
Though Jary currently ranks no higher than 28th on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) table, he caused enough trouble for the defending champion in the first set with his powerful big hitting. However, Sinner improved his consistency from the second set and secured a comeback win in the end.
"He played good tennis," Sinner said. "In the first set I was struggling to return his serve and he broke me. I just tried to stay there mentally. The first round at any tournament is never easy and playing against him is very tough. But I am happy about the performance and how I ended the match."
Zhou Yi of China competes in the men's singles first-round match against Pavel Kotov of Russia at the China Open in Beijing, September 26, 2024. /CFP
Home player Zhou Yi fought Pavel Kotov of Russia for two hours and 20 minutes before losing the match 6-1, 3-6, 7-5.
"It was like the match at the Chengdu Open, especially some of the key plays," Zhou told reporters. "I will try to improve my performance step by step. It's already better than what I did last year. I have proved that I can play contend with world top-100 or top-50 players."
No. 8 seed of the tournament, Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan, was upset by Flavio Cobolli of Italy 6-4, 1-6, 6(4)-7 after a contest of over two hours in the first round.
French veteran Adrian Mannarino beat Lorenzo Sonego of Italy 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 on Thursday, pocketing his 300th Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Tour win.