Taylor Fritz came back from a break down in both sets to defeat Nuno Borges of Portugal 7-5, 7-6 (4) and advance to the quarterfinal of the Japan Open in Tokyo on Friday.
Fritz counted 15 aces among his 29 winners in the match, which lasted one hour, 54 minutes. For Fritz, the second seed, it was his tour-leading 30th win since the grass season started in June, and he next will take on Sebastian Korda in his quest to win his third title this season.
Korda qualified for his fourth quarterfinal of the season by defeating Japanese wild card Sho Shimabukuro 6-1, 6-4. Fritz and Korda have gone head to head three times, with Fritz winning twice.
Fourth seed Casper Ruud of Norway set up a quarterfinal contest against Australia’s Aleksandar Vukic with his 7-6 (4), 6-2 victory over Italy’s Matteo Berrettini. Vukic dispatched Daniel Altmaier of Germany 6-4, 6-2.
Third seeded Alex de Minaur moved to the third round in Beijing with a 6-4, 6-0 win over home favorite Yunchaokete Bu, giving him a tour-leading 32 wins on hard courts this season.
China Open
The Australian struck 19 winners against six unforced errors, while Bu recorded 12 and 17, respectively.
No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev of Germany defeated Italian Lorenzo Sonego 6-4, 6-3 to move on against Corentin Moutet of France, who ousted Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands in straight sets.
Two other seeded players also advanced with Italian Lorenzo Musetti, the fourth seed, defeating Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 7-6 (3), 6-7 (4), 6-4. Eighth-seeded Daniil Medvedev of Russia topped Brit Cameron Norrie 6-3, 6-4, buoyed by nine aces, five service breaks and only 10 unforced errors.
Other winners were Czech Jakub Mensik, who won 7-5, 6-4 over Serb Miomir Kecmanovic. French qualifier Arthur Cazaux defeated Chinese wild card Juncheng Shang 0-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5. Frenchman Adrian Mannarino topped Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan 6-3, 6-2. American Learner Tien needed three sets to dispatch Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo.
–Field Level Media
