Zverev crushes Auger-Aliassime hopes at China Open

Alexander Zverev followed up his thumping win over Frances Tiafoe with another resounding success against a fellow young gun as he roared past Felix Auger-Aliassime at the China Open.

After clinching Team Europe’s success at the Laver Cup last month, Zverev has performed strongly in the opening rounds in Beijing, making light work of two of the most promising players in the game.

Zverev, despite a largely underwhelming season, is nudging closer to a top-eight place in the Race to London as he bids to reach the ATP Finals, where last year he stunned Novak Djokovic in the title match.

A 6-3 6-1 win over Canadian 19-year-old Auger-Aliassime is irrefutably a strong result, and for the German second seed it sets up a quarter-final against American Sam Querrey, who needed to dig deep for a 7-6 (7-2) 6-7 (6-8) 6-3 win over Argentinian Diego Schwartzman.

Into the last @AlexZverev powers past Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3 6-1 to reach the @ChinaOpen QF pic.twitter.com/VjRYOejBBa

— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 3, 2019

Greek third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas was taken the distance before getting the better of Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili, the world number seven outlasting the 17th-ranked player 4-6 6-3 6-2 in a touch over two hours.

Next for Tsitsipas is a clash with a player he has yet to beat, John Isner, after the American won 7-6 (7-3) 7-5 against Britain’s Dan Evans.

Isner fended off Tsitsipas at Wimbledon in 2018 and a year earlier in Shanghai, with four of the five sets across those two matches going to tie-breaks, a familiar pattern when the big-serving Dallas resident is in action.