BEIJING (AP) — No. 3-ranked Carlos Alcaraz withstood a heavy barrage from big-serving Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard to win 6-4, 6-4 in the China Open first round on Friday. Second-seeded Alcaraz took both of his break point opportunities, despite the No.
51-ranked Frenchman regularly sending down 140 mph (225 kph) serves. Mpetshi Perricard won 83% of the points behind his first serve but gave up costly errors at the beginning of each set, which Alcaraz was wily enough to capitalize on. “The plan was just to put as many returns in as I can,” Alcaraz said.
“Honestly it wasn’t easy. He’s a really powerful player. Big serve, big shots from the baseline.
So I had to be really focused.” Daniil Medvedev safely navigated a tricky first outing, 6-3, 6-4 against French veteran Gael Monfils. Roman Safiullin, who made the main draw as a lucky loser in qualifying, beat three-time major winner Stan Wawrinka 6-3, 6-4 and will face top-ranked Jannik Sinner.
Sixth-seeded Lorenzo Musetti and seventh-seeded Karen Khachanov also advanced. In the women's draw, second-seeded Jessica Pegula opened her account by beating Diane Parry of France 6-1, 7-6 (4). Pegula broke Parry's serve three times in a swift opening set.
The second set saw both players trade breaks before the U.S. Open finalist won the final five points of the tiebreak.
The American will next play No. 32 seed Veronika Kudermetova, who beat China's Wang Xinyu 3-6, 6-4, 7-5. Four-time major winner Naomi Osaka rallied from a se.