Alex de Minaur beats Murray to advance in China Open; Jabeur reaches semifinals at Ningbo Open

The 12th-ranked Australian trailed 5-3 in the third set, with Murray serving for the match, but broke back before winning a tense tiebreaker to advance to the second round.

BEIJING, CHINA - SEPTEMBER 28: Andy Murray of Great Britain reacts against Alex De Minaur of Australia during day 3 of the 2023 China Open at National Tennis Center on September 28, 2023 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Fred Lee/Getty Images) | Photo Credit: FRED LEE

Alex de Minaur rallied from a breakdown in the deciding set to beat three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (6) Thursday in the first round of the China Open.

The 12th-ranked Australian trailed 5-3 in the third set, with Murray serving for the match, but broke back before winning a tense tiebreaker to advance to the second round.

Eight of the top-10 ranked players are in Beijing for the China Open, including Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev.

The second-ranked Alcaraz will open against qualifier Yannick Hanfmann on Friday for his first competitive match since he reached the semifinals at the U.S. Open. Medvedev will play Tommy Paul in the first round, with de Minaur waiting for the second-seeded Russian in the next round.

In first-round other matches, Tomas Martin Etcheverry defeated Lloyd Harris 6-7 (5), 7-6 (4), 6-3 and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina beat Chinese wild-card Yi Zhou 6-2, 6-2.

At the Astana Open, Marcos Giron beat two-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka 6-7 (6), 7-6 (4), 7-6 (6) in a match where neither player had a break or even a break-point opportunity.

In other first-round matches, sixth-seeded Adrian Mannarino defeated Arthur Rinderkneck 7-6 (4), 6-2, Gregoire Barrere eliminated qualifier Jurij Rodionov 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5), and qualifier Sho Shimabukuro beat Roberto Carballes Baena 6-2, 6-4.

Top-seeded Ons Jabeur beat Russian wild-card Vera Zvonareva 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 to advance to the semifinals of the Ningbo Open. Jabeur will next play either third-ranked Katerina Siniakova or Nadia Podoroska.

Second-seeded Petra Kvitova lost to Diana Shnaider.

6-1, 4-6, 6-3. Shnaider will next play Linda Fruhvirtova, who defeated eighth-seeded Lucia Bronzetti 6-0, 6-3.

Fourth-seeded Maria Sakkari beat Misaki Doi 6-3, 6-1 in the final match of the Japanese player’s career to reach the Toray Pan Pacific Open quarterfinals in Tokyo.

Sakkari will next face fifth-seeded Caroline Garcia, who defeated Anhelina Kalinina 6-4, 6-3.

Also, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova beat Linda Noskova 6-3, 4-6, 6-0, and sixth-seeded Daria Kasatkina defeated qualifier Despina Papamichail 6-4, 6-4.