By ASSOCIATED PRESS
BEIJING (AP) — Coco Gauff reached the third round of the China Open by beating Clara Burel 7-5, 6-3 on Friday, Sept. 27, in her first match since the U.S. Open.
The No. 6-ranked Gauff, who saved a set point when trailing 5-4 in the first set, will play Katie Boulter of Britain, who advanced by beating American Taylor Townsend 6-4, 6-4.
Gauff is playing in Beijing following her recent split from coach Brad Gilbert after more than a year and one Grand Slam title together.
That break-up came shortly after Gauff’s defense of the U.S. Open championship she won in 2023 ended in a fourth round loss against Emma Navarro.
Earlier, No. 3-ranked Carlos Alcaraz withstood a heavy barrage from big-serving Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard to win 6-4, 6-4 in his opening match.
Second-seeded Alcaraz took both of his break point opportunities, despite the No. 51-ranked Frenchman regularly sending down 140 mph (225 kph) serves.
Mpetshi Perricard won 83% of the points behind his first serve but gave up costly errors at the beginning of each set, which Alcaraz was wily enough to capitalize on.
“The plan was just to put as many returns in as I can,” Alcaraz said. “Honestly it wasn’t easy. He’s a really powerful player. Big serve, big shots from the baseline. So I had to be really focused.”
Daniil Medvedev safely navigated a tricky first outing, 6-3, 6-4 against French veteran Gael Monfils.
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 Jannik Sinner.
Sixth-seeded Lorenzo Musetti and seventh-seeded Karen Khachanov also advanced.
In the women’s draw, second-seeded Jessica Pegula opened her account by beating Diane Parry of France 6-1, 7-6 (4).
Pegula broke Parry’s serve three times in a swift opening set. The second set saw both players trade breaks before the U.S. Open finalist won the final five points of the tiebreak.
The American will next play No. 32 seed Veronika Kudermetova, who beat China’s Wang Xinyu 3-6, 6-4, 7-5.
Four-time major winner Naomi Osaka rallied from a set down to beat Yulia Putintseva 3-6, 6-4, 6-2. Osaka will play American Katie Volynets in the third round.
Sixth-seeded Emma Navarro was upset by Chinese wild card Zhang Shuai 6-4, 6-2, while 12th-seeded Diana Shnaider beat former Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin 6-2, 6-3.
U.S. Open champion Aryna Sabalenka plays on Saturday against Thai qualifier Mananchaya Sawangkaew.
Japan Open
Second-seeded Hubert Hurkacz lost to U.S. Open semifinalist Jack Draper 6-4, 6-4 in the second round in Tokyo, a day after top-seeded Taylor Fritz and third-seeded Casper Ruud were eliminated.
While 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 Brandon Nakashima or Ugo Humbert in the quarterfinals.
Defending champion Ben Shelton also reached the quarters after defeating Mariano Navone 6-4, 6-3. Shelton, along with Fritz, travelled to Japan from the Laver Cup in Berlin, where they represented Team World in a loss to Alcaraz’s Team Europe.
Matteo Berrettini took the opening set tiebreak against Arthur Fils of France before the Italian retired from the match with an injury.
