Second-seeded Carlos Alcaraz recorded a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in the first round of the China Open on Friday in Beijing.
Alcaraz fired five aces and took advantage of six double faults by his foe to dispatch the Frenchman in one hour, 21 minutes. The Spaniard moved on to face Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands in the next round.
Also on Friday, lucky loser Roman Safiullin of Russia upended three-time major winner Stan Wawrinka 6-3, 6-4. He will square off against top-ranked Jannik Sinner of Italy in the second round.
Fourth-seeded Andrey Rublev of Russia and sixth-seeded Lorenzo Musetti of Italy needed three sets to defeat their respective foes, while third-seeded Daniil Medvedev and seventh-seeded Karen Khachanov, a fellow Russian, posted straight-set victories.
Italian Flavio Cobolli overcame an opening-set setback to notch a 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4) triumph over eighth-seeded Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan.
Japan Open
Jack Draper notched a 6-4, 6-4 win over second-seeded Hubert Hurkacz of Poland in their second-round match in Tokyo.
Draper had 11 aces and benefited from five double faults by Hurkacz. The Brit advanced to face Frenchman Ugo Humbert, who posted a 6-3, 6-2 win over Brandon Nakashima.
Defending champion Ben Shelton continued his good fortune with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Mariano Navone of Argentina.
Despite losing the first set in a tiebreaker, Arthur Fils of France advanced after Matteo Berrettini of Italy retired due to injury.
