Carlos Alcaraz returns to action at China Open, defeats Yannick Hanfmann

The 20-year-old was making his first appearance since losing in the US Open semi-finals three weeks ago having pulled out of Spain's Davis Cup team.

Alcaraz looked a little rusty and twice lost a break lead in the opening set against Germany's Yannick Hanfmann but secured a 6-4 6-3 win and a second-round meeting with Lorenzo Musetti.

"I'm really happy to be able to win this match in straight sets," Alcaraz said on atptour.com.

"Yannick's playing great. He's a really dangerous player, big shots.

"He was playing big bombs in this match so I had to be really focused, trying to not let him dominate the match.

"I have to improve a little bit so I'm really happy to do it and have another chance to be better in the next round."

The man who beat Alcaraz in New York, world number three Daniil Medvedev, also played his first match since losing to Novak Djokovic in the final, and impressed in a 6-2 6-1 win over American Tommy Paul.

British interest is over, though, after Dan Evans and Cameron Norrie both lost on Friday.

After Andy Murray missed match points to beat Australian Alex De Minaur on Thursday, Evans was beaten by sixth seed Jannik Sinner and Norrie went down to fifth seed Andrey Rublev.

Both made things close against higher-ranked opponents, with Evans edged out 6-4 6-7 (2) 6-3 by Italian Sinner before Norrie failed to capitalise on taking the first set in a 4-6 6-1 6-4 loss.

Third seed Holger Rune has struggled with injury and had not won a tour-level match since Wimbledon but the young Dane returned to form by defeating Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4 6-4.

Stefanos Tsitsipas' struggles continued, the fourth seed beaten 6-4 6-4 by Chile's Nicolas Jarry, while there were also wins for in-form Alexander Zverev, Casper Ruud and Grigor Dimitrov.

 

Read More: British hopes dashed as Dan Evans and Cam Norrie bow out of China Open (planetsport.com)