Daniil Medvedev through to semifinals at China Open, while Iga Swiatek wins in tournament debut
Medvedev will next face Alexander Zverev for the fifth time this year, with both bidding for a final berth.
BEIJING (AP) — Third-ranked Daniil Medvedev overcame a second-set stumble to beat Frenchman Ugo Humbert 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 and advance to the semifinals of the China Open on Monday.
The Russian struggled to find his usual fluid game in the first two sets but sprung to life in the third set to shake off the 36th-ranked Humbert and progress to his 10th semifinal of the year.
"I'm kind of happy that I managed to raise my level in important moments, except a game in the second set," Medvedev said. "It's great that I managed to still find in this tough match these moments of consistency, which is enough to win. That's what you have to do."
The Russian will next face either eighth-seeded Alexander Zverev or Nicolas Jarry, who play later Monday.
Second-ranked, and top-seeded, Carlos Alcaraz plays his quarterfinal match against seventh-seeded Casper Ruud in a night match.
Making her first appearance at the China Open, second-ranked Iga Swiatek advanced to the second round with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Sara Sorribes Tormo.
The Pole fired 27 winners and made 25 unforced errors, breaking serve a total of seven times in the win.
"You have to be patient with her because she's running for every ball," Swiatek said of her No.55-ranked Spanish opponent. "I kind of wanted to just be solid and be intensive but not make too many mistakes with risking."
Swiatek will next face Varvara Gracheva.
Seventh-seeded Ons Jabeur, winner of the Ningbo Open last week, beat Ashlyn Krueger 6-3, 6-4 and ninth-seeded Caroline Garcia was a 6-2, 6-4 winner over Kateryna Baindl.
China's Wang Xinyu beat wildcard Vera Zvonareva 6-4, 6-3 and 11th-seeded Daria Kasatkina defeated Mayar Sherif 1-6, 6-4, 7-6(8).
Third-ranked Coco Gauff plays her first-round match later Monday against No.20-ranked Ekaterina Alexandrova.
Jelena Ostapenko, seeded-13th, had a walkover into the round-of-16 after Linda Noskova withdrew due to illness. Ostapenko will face either fourth-seeded Jessica Pegula or Anna Blinkova next.
Also in the second round, Anhelina Kalinina defeated Daria Saville 6-2, 7-6(5) and Jasmine Paolini beat Yuan Yue 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.