It took only 56 minutes for Carlos Alcaraz to book his spot in the China Open quarterfinals. The second seed behind only Jannik Sinner, a dominant 21-year-old Spaniard convincingly defeated Tallon Griekspoor 6-1, 6-2 under the roof of Diamond Court in Beijing and left the Dutch opponent dumbfounded.
Next, the four-time Grand Slam champion will oppose the seventh-seeded Karen Khachanov. Khachanov booked his spot with a close 7-6(4), 7-6(9) victory over Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo.
In other men’s action, Chinese wildcard Bu Yunchaokete managed an upset, defeating Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti 6-2, 6-4.
On the women’s side, the remarkable run of 35-year-old Zhang Shuai continued with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Belgian Greet Minnen. The world number 595 had become the lowest-ranked player to reach the third round of the China Open – having gone over 600 days without a singles win. She next faces Poland’s Magdalena Frech.
While second-seed Jessica Pegula came back from a first-set loss to pip Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova 6-7(9), 6-1, 6-2, and set up a clash with Spain’s Paula Badosa.
World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, fresh off her US Open triumph, is the top seed in Beijing, while Iga Swiatek does not feature due to personal reasons.
