Murray returns to China and wins in the first round in Zhuhai. Linette progresses to the semifinals in Guangzhou.
ZHUHAI, China — Andy Murray won his opening-round match at the Zhuhai Championships on Thursday, his first visit to China in four years, beating local wildcard Mo Ye Cong 7-5, 6-3.
Murray, seeking his sixth tour win in China and first since the Beijing Open in 2016, broke in the 12th game to take the first set. The seventh-seeded Brit dominated his 23-year-old opponent in the second set, winning in 1 hour and 42 minutes.
Murray, 36, will face 63rd-ranked Aslan Karatsev, who overcame Matteo Arnaldi 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 6-2.
Fifth-seeded Tomas Martin Etcheverry defeated Luke Saville of Australia 6-4, 6-4.
Kimmer Coppejans, Cristian Garin, and qualifiers Marc Polmans and Alex Bolt were among the other winners.
Top-seeded Karen Khachanov will face Australia’s Bolt in the second round, while Cameron Norrie will face Polmans on Friday.
American Marcos Giron upset fifth-seeded Alexander Bublik 7-6 (6), 6-3 at the Chengdu Open, and Australian Jordan Thompson defeated sixth-seeded compatriot Max Purcell 6-2, 7-6 (8).
Giron, ranked 64th, will face Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech, who defeated Tu Li 7-6 (5), 7-6 (6), while Thompson will play Dusan Lajovic. The Serbian defeated Belgian wild card Zizou Bergs 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 in three sets.
Juan Pablo Varillas defeated Chinese wild card Cui Jie 6-1, 6-3, while Miomir Kecmanovic defeated qualifier Benjamin Lock 6-2, 6-3.
After getting a bye in the first round, top seeds Alexander Zverev, Lorenzo Musetti, Grigor Dimitrov, and Daniel Evans play their second-round matches on Friday.
Unseeded Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan defeated third-seeded Tatjana Maria 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-0 in an almost 3-hour match at the Guangzhou Open to reach her first WTA 250 quarterfinal since Istanbul in April 2022.
Putintseva will face top-seeded Magda Linette after the Pole defeated fifth-seeded Rebeka Masarova of Spain 7-5, 7-6 (6).
Greet Minnen won 6-7 (8), 6-4, 6-1 over fourth-seeded Lucia Bronzetti of Italy. In the semifinals, the seventh-seeded Belgian will face either Wang Xiyu or Viktoria Hruncakova, who will play later Thursday.
