China Open: Buyunchaokete upsets Olympics bronze medallist Musetti to make QFs

Beijing, Sep 29
Chinese player Buyunchaokete upset Paris Olympics bronze medallist Lorenzo Musetti 6-2, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals of the China Open here on Sunday. He will next play fourth seed Andrey Rublev or Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

Buyunchaokete, who had played just one ATP Tour event before last week's Hangzhou Open, made his maiden tour-level semifinal at the ATP 250 and is now into the last eight at his first ATP 500 tournament.

The 22-year-old became just the second Chinese men’s singles quarterfinalist in China Open history, joining Zhang Ze, who accomplished the feat in 2012. He joined the exclusive club by earning his first victory against a Top 20 opponent in the ATP Rankings in one hour and 29 minutes, according to ATP stats.

Less than five months ago, Buyunchaokete was World No. 239. Now the 22-year-old is No. 83 in the ATP Live Rankings and climbing.

On the other half of the draw, Karen Khachanov survived a late fightback to edge his way past Francisco Cerundolo in a nervy encounter, booking his place in the quarterfinals.

The 28-year-old saved four set points in the second set according to ATP Stats, and needed six match points himself to prevail 7-6(4), 7-6(9) in two hours and nine minutes.

Cerundolo had ample opportunity to force a deciding set, but came unstuck by the resilience of the former No. 8 in the ATP Rankings, who secured consecutive wins for the first time since reaching the fourth round of the ATP Masters 1000 event in Rome in May.

After extending his ATP Head-to-Head series to 7-0 over Cerundolo, seventh seed Khachanov will face either Tallon Griekspoor or Carlos Alcaraz for a spot in the last four and to boost his chances of claiming a seventh ATP Tour title.