Medvedev Beats Monfils in Beijing. Draper Upsets Hurkacz in Japan

Russia's Daniil Medvedev celebrates after defeating France's Gael Monfils during the China Open tennis tournament held at the National Tennis Center in Beijing, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
Russia's Daniil Medvedev celebrates after defeating France's Gael Monfils during the China Open tennis tournament held at the National Tennis Center in Beijing, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
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Medvedev Beats Monfils in Beijing. Draper Upsets Hurkacz in Japan

Russia's Daniil Medvedev celebrates after defeating France's Gael Monfils during the China Open tennis tournament held at the National Tennis Center in Beijing, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
Russia's Daniil Medvedev celebrates after defeating France's Gael Monfils during the China Open tennis tournament held at the National Tennis Center in Beijing, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Daniil Medvedev safely navigated a tricky first outing at the China Open on Friday, winning 6-3, 6-4 against French veteran Gael Monfils.
The third-seeded Medvedev, runner-up to Jannik Sinner here last year, broke Monfils' serve three times in a dominant opening set, The Associated Press reported.
After trading breaks in a closer second set, former No. 1-ranked Medvedev clinched the match with another service break to seal the win in 92 minutes.
Roman Safiullin, who made the main draw as a lucky loser in qualifying, beat three-time major winner Stan Wawrinka 6-3, 6-4 and will face top-ranked Sinner.
No. 3-ranked Carlos Alcaraz, seeded second in Beijing, begins against No. 51 Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard of France later Friday.
In the women's draw, sixth-seeded Emma Navarro was upset by Chinese wildcard Zhang Shuai 6-4, 6-2 in 75 minutes. The 35-year-old Zhang, a doubles specialist, played well above her current singles ranking of No. 595 as she took five of her seven breakpoint opportunities against the U.S. Open semifinalist.
Zhang will play Greet Minnen of Belgium, who beat 28th-seeded Anastasia Potapova 7-5, 2-6, 6-4, in the third round.
Also, 12th-seeded Diana Shnaider beat former Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin 6-2, 6-3 and Yuliia Starodubtseva had a 6-2, 6-2 win over 27th-seeded Katerina Siniakova.
Second-seeded Jessica Pegula was due open her tournament later Friday against Diane Parry of France, and Coco Gauff faced Clara Burel in a night match.
US Open champion Aryna Sabalenka plays Saturday against Thai qualifier Mananchaya Sawangkaew. Top-ranked Iga Swiatek was not playing this week for personal reasons.
Japan Open Second-seeded Hubert Hurkacz lost 6-4, 6-4 to US Open semifinalist Jack Draper in the second round in Tokyo, a day after top-seeded Taylor Fritz and third-seeded Casper Ruud were eliminated from the tournament.
While the 22-year-old Draper and Hurkacz were evenly matched on aces and winners, it was the Polish player's 30 unforced errors, to Draper's 20, that proved costly.
Draper will next play either Brandon Nakashima or Ugo Humbert in the quarterfinals.
Defending champion Ben Shelton also progressed to the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 6-3 defeat of Mariano Navone. Shelton, along with Fritz, traveled to Japan from the Laver Cup in Berlin, where they represented Team World in a loss to Alcaraz’s Team Europe.



Four Players Advance to Semi-Finals of Next Generation ATP Finals

The event is organized by the Saudi Tennis Federation and the Association of Tennis Professionals - SPA
The event is organized by the Saudi Tennis Federation and the Association of Tennis Professionals - SPA
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Four Players Advance to Semi-Finals of Next Generation ATP Finals

The event is organized by the Saudi Tennis Federation and the Association of Tennis Professionals - SPA
The event is organized by the Saudi Tennis Federation and the Association of Tennis Professionals - SPA

The group stage of the Next Generation ATP Finals concluded at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, the tournament's second edition hosted by Saudi Arabia.
Organized by the Saudi Tennis Federation and the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), the event is supervised by the Ministry of Sports and sponsored by the Public Investment Fund.

According to SPA, the matches drew a significant audience, underscoring the growing popularity of tennis in the Kingdom.
The final day of the group stage confirmed the semi-finalists from the red and blue groups. French player Luca Van Assche secured his spot alongside red group leader Alex Michelsen of the US.

In the blue group, American Learner Tien triumphed over Frenchman Arthur Fils, to claim the runner-up position, joining Brazilian Joao Fonseca, the group leader.
The semi-finals, scheduled for today, feature Alex Michelsen facing Tien in an all-American clash, while Fonseca will take on Van Assche. The winners of these matches will advance to the final, set to take place tomorrow.
The tournament has showcased exceptional talent and reinforced Saudi Arabia's commitment to hosting world-class sporting events.