Alcaraz battles time, Mpetshi Perricard to make China Open second round

Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, the second seed, defeated Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 6-4, 6-4 to advance to the second round of the China Open at the Olympic Green Tennis Center in Beijing on Friday.

Playing on Lotus Court, Alcaraz needed 88 minutes to complete the straight-set win against Mpetshi Perricard.

He broke the world No 51’s serve twice and saved three break points on his racquet, registering 13 winners and four aces.

Notably, the four-time Grand Slam champion had trouble keeping pace with the clock in the first set as he lost his first serve in the deciding game courtesy of a time violation.

“I’m always very quick, I never get warnings,” Alcaraz reportedly said to the chair umpire. “You gave me two in a set. It’s impossible to play tennis like this.”

He recovered from a 0-40 deficit in that game against Mpetshi Perricard to go one up.

The Spaniard opened the second set by breaking his opponent in the first game and then kept his serve unchallenged throughout to advance.

Alcaraz, ranked No 3, will face Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor next.

Beijing ATP 500, other first-round results (Olympic Green Tennis Center, hard, USD 3.720.165, most recent results first):

• Alejandro Davidovich Fokina vs. Zhizhen Zhang
• Andrey Rublev vs. Pablo Carreno Busta
• Karen Khachanov (7) beat Roberto Carballes Baena (LL): 6-4, 6-4
• Roberto Bautista Agut (Q) beat Arthur Rinderknech (LL): 6-3, 6-4
• Lorenzo Musetti (6) beat Zizou Bergs (Q): 7-5, 4-6, 6-3
• Daniil Medvedev (3) beat Gael Monfils: 6-3, 6-4
• Francisco Cerundolo beat Jakub Mensik (Q): 7-6 (4), 6-1
• Yunchaokete Bu (WC) beat Juncheng Shang: 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-4
• Roman Safiullin (LL) beat Stan Wawrinka (WC): 6-3, 6-4
• Flavio Cobolli beat Alexander Bublik (8): 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4)
• Jiri Lehecka beat Pedro Martinez Portero: 7-6 (4), 6-2
• Tallon Griekspoor beat Miomir Kecmanovic: 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-3
• Jannik Sinner (1) beat Nicolas Jarry: 4-6, 6-3, 6-1
• Pavel Kotov (Q) beat Yi Zhou (WC): 1-6, 6-3, 7-5
• Adrian Mannarino beat Lorenzo Sonego: 1-6, 6-2, 6-3

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