Beijing: French Open winner Coco Gauff was forced to go the distance against Leylah Fernandez before closing out a tight three-setter 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 on Sunday to advance to the third round at the China Open.
The defending champion and a firm crowd favorite in Beijing overcame a second-set stumble and then struggled to serve out the match in the third, before breaking Fernandez in the 12th game of the deciding set to clinch it.
Second-seeded Alexander Zverev beat Corentin Moutet 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 to set up a quarterfinal against Daniil Medvedev.
In Japan Open, Carlos Alcaraz defeated Brandon Nakashima 6-2, 6-4 to reach the semifinals with his 65th match win of the season to equal his personal-best tally in
a single season.