Jannik Sinner wins China Open. Iga Swiatek advances to quarterfinals
BEIJING (AP) — Jannik Sinner won his third title of the year by beating third-ranked Daniil Mevedev 7-6 (2), 7-6 (2) Wednesday at the China Open.
The 22-year-old Italian had not beaten Medvedev in their six previous meetings, but he quickly found his rythym from the baseline to earn his ninth tour title.
“Daniil, thanks for letting me win at least one match,” Sinner joked during the trophy ceremony. “We have had some very tough battles, especially this year. Thanks for making me a much better player. I have been training a lot to beat you."
Along with his trademark clean groundstrokes, Sinner relied on his serve, winning more than 70% of his second-serve points and attacking from the net.
Medvedev came into Wednesday's final looking for his 21st career title and sixth of 2023. His next stop will be the Shanghai Masters, where he is seeded second.
In the women's tournament, second-ranked Iga Swiatek dropped only two games and advanced to the quarterfinals by beating Magda Linette 6-1, 6-1.
Swiatek will play in her 14th quarterfinal of 2023. She will next face either ninth-seeded Carolina Garcia or Anhelina Kalinina on Friday.
Earlier, Jelena Ostapenko defeated fourth-seeded Jessica Pegula 6-4, 6-2. The 13th-seeded Latvian had 24 winners against 11 unforced errors.
Ostapenko will next play 22nd-ranked Liudmila Samsonova. The Russian beat Marta Kostyuk 6-4, 6-7 (4), 7-5.
Fifth-seeded Elena Rybakina won 10 of the last 11 games in her comeback 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory against 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva.
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka and U.S. Open champion Coco Gauff play their next matches on Thursday.
SHANGHAI MASTERS
On the opening day of the Shanghai Masters, Dusan Lajovic eliminated three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka 6-4, 7-6 (7) and Andy Murray lost to Roman Safiullin 6-3, 6-2.
Also, Brendan Nakashima beat Bernabe Zapata Miralles 6-1, 7-6 (3) and will play third-seeded Holger Rune in the second round, while Yoshihito Nishioka defeated Daniel Altmeier 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (2) to set up a meeting with eighth-seeded Casper Ruud.
Other first round winners included Thanasi Kokkinakis, Mackenzie McDonald, Marcos Giron, Jaume Munar, Yannick Hanfmann and Chinese wild-card Yunchaokete Bu.
The top 32-seeded players, including Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev, received a first-round bye and will play in the second round starting Saturday.
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