Alexander Zverev continued his stellar 2026 season, defeating Cameron Norrie of Great Britain 7-6 (1), 6-4 to advance at the China Open in Beijing on Thursday.
Winner of two Grand Slam tournaments this year, World No. 2 Zverev is moving closer to overtaking No. 1 Jannik Sinner of Italy. With the victory, the German also leads the ATP Tour with 28 hard-court wins on the year.
In the Round of 16, the top-seeded Zverev will meet Juncheng Shang of China, the home favorite who defeated Argentine Sebastian Baez 5-7, 6-3, 7-5
Also moving on were fifth-seeded Alex de Minaur of Australia and Russian Roman Safiullin, who took out fourth-seeded Flavio Cobolli of Italy 6-3, 6-2. Alex Molcan of Slovakia, Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina, Quentin Halys of France, Russia’s Andrey Rublev and Hubert Hurkacz of Poland also won.
Japan Open Tennis Championships
Top seed Carlos Alcaraz and second-seeded Frances Tiafoe advanced on a day that saw three of the top 10 seeds fall in Tokyo.
Two Americans were among those sent home. Jaume Munar of Spain topped Taylor Fritz, the third seed, 6-7 (7), 6-4, 6-3. Ugo Humbert of France ousted fifth-seeded Brandon Nakashima 6-3, 6-2 and Italy’s Luciano Darderi defeated Norway’s Casper Ruud, the sixth seed, 7-6 (3), 6-3.
Spain’s Alcaraz advanced to the Round of 16 by staving off Alex Michelsen 7-6 (1), 4-6, 6-1. Tiafoe defeated Kei Nishikori of Japan 6-4, 6-4, sending Nishikori into his previously announced retirement with a loss in his home nation.
Other winners were Jaime Faria of Portugal, Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, Kyrian Jacquet of France and Denis Shapovalov of Canada.
–Field Level Media
