Musetti advances to Chengdu Open semis

CHENGDU, China (AP) — Lorenzo Musetti advanced to the semifinals of the Chengdu Open with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Arthur Rinderknech on Sunday.

Musetti, who qualified for his third semifinal appearance of the season, outsmarted his French opponent with 32 winners in the quarterfinal match.

“Yesterday’s match (against Philip Sekulic) gave me a lot of confidence and today I started very well,” Musetti said. “A really solid performance from the baseline and I am really happy to be in the semifinals.”

Musetti next faces Roman Safiullin who advanced after Jordan Thompson was forced to retire. Safiullin had won the first set 7-6 (1).

Alexander Zverev rallied to beat Miomir Kecmanovic 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 and didn’t commit an unforced error in the third set.

Zverev will meet Grigor Dimitrov in the semifinals after the Bulgarian beat Australian Christopher O’Connell 6-4, 6-1.

At the Zhuhai Championships, Aslan Karatsev secured a place in the semifinals, beating Cameron Norrie 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5). Karatsev beat former top-ranked Andy Murray in the second round and followed it with another aggressive brand of tennis to beat Norrie in 2 hours and 23 minutes.

Karen Khachanov rallied to beat sixth-seeded Mackenzie McDonald 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

“It was very tough,” Khachanov said. “A mental and physical match … I had to try to push and bring all the energy to change the momentum.”

Khachanov plays Sebastian Korda in the semifinals. The American beat fifth-seeded Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-1, 6-2 in a one-sided quarterfinal match. Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka beat Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4, 7-5.

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