BEIJING: Jannik Sinner survived a scare to sink French qualifier Terence Atmane 6-4, 7-5, 6-0 at the China Open on Saturday as Iga Swiatek launched her title bid.
The world number two Italian Sinner will face 57th-ranked Fabian Marozsan of Hungary in the Beijing quarter-finals.
“It was a very tough match today,” four-time Grand Slam champion Sinner said. “I felt like he was serving great.”
Sinner said that he lost a bit of concentration during the second set but quickly recovered to steamroll past the 68th-ranked Atmane in the deciding set.
“I started off very well in the third set then I saw (Atmane) struggling a bit physically.
“It’s not how you want to win a match but very happy to be again in the next round.”
Atmane declared it would be a fight with two aces in the first game and made Sinner work for the first set.
Atmane sent down six more aces in the second and broke the 24-year-old Sinner to force a deciding set.
With the Frenchman flagging, Sinner raced to victory.
In the women’s draw, Swiatek breezed past home player Yuan Yue, cruising into round three with a 6-0, 6-3 victory.
The world number two from Poland next faces Colombia’s Camila Osorio, ranked 83rd.
Swiatek broke early to set the tone for an ultimately one-sided match against Yuan, winning the first set without dropping a game when the wildcard from China fired long.
Cheered on by her home crowd, the world no.
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