China's wildcard entry Wu Yibing was defeated by Tunisia's Malek Jaziri 6-4, 6-3 in the first round of his debut at the China Open on Monday.
The 18-year-old grabbed silver at the recent Asian Games in Indonesia, but came up short on home turf against the 16-year-elder rival in his senior debut season.
Wu fell behind 4-3 in the opener, but showed signs of a recovery in the seventh game with a forehand winner en route to leveling the set. However, the 34-year-old went one-up in dominant fashion three-games, 6-4, later when the Chinese player failed to return his drop shot.
Tunisia's Malek Jaziri in the match against China's Wu Yibing during his Men's Singles 1nd Round of the 2018 China Open at the China National Tennis Centre on October 1, 2018 in Beijing, China. /VCG Photo
In the next set Jaziri broke his opponent after Wu fired into the net. Trailing 3-1, the home favorite couldn't keep this forehand within bounds as he goes further behind.
However, Wu landed another shot out of the court and handed the qualifier a 6-4, 6-3 win.
In other action, Karen Khachanov swept past Sam Querrey, fifth seed Kyle Edmund edged Peter Gojowczyk in three sets and Dusan Lajovic overcame Vasek Pospisil, also in three sets.