World No. 10 Alexander Zverev of Germany defeated unseeded Pavel Kotov of Russia 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-1 on Saturday to advance to the quarterfinals of the Chengdu Open in Chengdu, China.
The top seed in the tournament, Zverev survived a marathon match of two hours and 26 minutes by winning on return points at a 36 percent rate (37 of 102) to 25 percent (20 of 80) for Kotov.
No. 2 seed Lorenzo Musetti of Italy also advanced by defeating Australia’s Philip Sekulic 7-6 (3), 6-7 (4), 6-0.
Other winners included Grigor Dimitrov (6-3, 6-4 vs. Juan Pablo Varillas), Arthur Rinderknech (7-6 (2), 6-4 vs. Marcos Giron) and Miomir Kecmanovic (6-2, 6-4 vs. Corentin Moutet).
Zhuhai Championships
Great Britain’s Cameron Norrie topped Australia’s Marc Polmans 6-0, 6-3 to reach the Zhuhai Championships quarterfinals.
Ranked No. 17 in the ATP and seeded second in the tournament, Norrie coasted in 77 minutes by recording five aces and converting 75 percent (33 of 44) on service points.
Also on Saturday, Sebastian Korda defeated France’s Alexandre Muller (6-1, 2-6, 6-3), Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina upended the Czech Republic’s Dalibor Svrcina (6-2, 6-3), and Russia’s Aslan Karatsev edged Great Britain’s Andy Murray (4-6, 6-3, 6-2).
Laver Cup
U.S. players Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe registered straight-set wins, moving Team World to the verge of capturing the Laver Cup in Vancouver.
With two victories in three singles matches plus a doubles win on Saturday, Team World holds a 10-2 edge over Team Europe entering the final day of play. A win in any of the four Sunday matches would seal the championship for Team World.
Fritz downed Russia’s Andrey Rublev 6-2, 7-6 (3), and Tiafoe topped Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz 7-5, 6-3. Between those two matches, Norway’s Casper Ruud defeated the United States’ Tommy Paul 7-6 (6), 6-2.
In doubles, the United States’ Ben Shelton and Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime downed Hurkacz and France’s Gael Monfils 7-5, 6-4.
The three-day event pits a team of European players, captained by Bjorn Borg, against a squad of non-European players, captained by John McEnroe. Each day will include three singles matches and one doubles match.
Victories on Friday were worth one point apiece, with the value increasing to two points on Saturday and three points on Sunday. The first team to 13 points wins.
–Field Level Media
