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ATP roundup: Murray advances at Shenzhen Open

[September 26, 2018] Former World No. 1 Andy Murray advanced in his first match at the Shenzhen Open in China on Tuesday when his opponent retired.

The Scot, who won the tournament in 2014, was up 6-3, 6-7 (3), 4-2 when wild card Zhizhen Zhang of China stopped the match because of cramping.

In the match, Murray, who also is a wild card, saved eight of 10 break points and won almost 60 percent of his return points on second serves.

"I felt he played very well after the first set," Murray said of his opponent. "I just managed to fight hard, stay tough in the beginning of the third set and unfortunately for him, the cramps started."

It was the first match for Murray since his second-round loss to Fernando Verdasco of Spain in the second round of the U.S. Open. Murray's next opponent is top seed David Goffin of Belgium, the defending champion.

Also Tuesday, sixth-seeded Canadian Denis Shapovalov defeated Ilya Ivashka of Belarus in a match that was suspended for more than three hours because of rain He defeated Ivashka 7-5, 2-6, 6-3.

"I think once we came back from the break, we played better," said Shapovalov, who next meets Japanese qualifier Yoshihito Nishioka. "It's been tough conditions here today, but I felt much better on my return to the court."

Fifth-seeded Fernando Verdasco of Spain was a 6-3, 6-2 winner over qualifier Jason Jung of Taiwan. He will meet No. 3 seed Borna Coric of Croatia, who had a bye.

Also Tuesday, seventh-seeded Alex de Minaur of Australia needed only 56 minutes to defeat Yuichi Sugita of Japan 6-3, 6-0. American Mackenzie McDonald will be his opponent. McDonald was leading 5-7, 6-0, 5-0 when Lukas Lacko of Slovakia retired.

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Qualifier Ramkumar Ramanathan of India eliminated Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic 7-5, 6-1 in 90 minutes. In the second round, he'll meet fourth-seed Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Chengdu Open

American Sam Querrey rebounded in a first-set tiebreaker by saving two set points on his way to a 7-6 (6), 6-1 victory over 2017 tournament semifinalist Guido Pella of Argentina. The match took just 75 minutes, and he will meet No. 3 seed Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia in the second round.

It took much longer -- two hours, 14 minutes -- for Canadian lucky loser Felix Augur-Aliassime to beat wild card Yibing Wu 6-3, 6-7(2), 6-1 of China. Next up for him is No. 2 seed Hyeon Chung of South Korea.

Malek Jaziri saved a set point to defeat Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus 7-6 (7), 1-6, 6-2. He'll next face No. 4 seed Adrian Mannarino of France.

South African qualifier Lloyd Harris won his first match on the ATP World Tour when he defeated fifth-seeded Gael Monfils of France 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 in 88 minutes. Next up for Harris is Australian qualifier Bernard Tomic.

Also, sixth-seeded Matthew Ebden of Australia hit nine aces in a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Evgeny Donskoy of Russia in 75 minutes. Russian Mikhail Kukushkin handled eighth-seeded American Tennys Sandgren 6-4, 6-3 in 87 minutes.

--Field Level Media

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