World number two Jannik Sinner moved into the semi-finals of the China Open in Beijing thanks to a 6-1 7-5 victory over Hungarian Fabian Marozsan on Monday.
Italian Sinner claimed a seventh semi-final spot from the eight tournaments he has played this year and only needed 26 minutes to clinch the opening set.
In the second he fell awkwardly in the eighth game and was a break down at 4-5 but hit back immediately to deny Marozsan the set.
Sinner held and pounced on his opponent’s serve again in the 12th game, sealing his 40th tour-level match win of a season in which he served a short doping ban.
“I feel like I started off very well in the first set. We both played well in the second set. I had some break chances at 4-3 – I couldn’t use them,” Sinner said.
“He’s someone whose peak is high, which I knew before the match. When he was serving for the set he made a couple of unforced errors which helped me to come back and win in two.”
Up next for the four-time major champion is Australian third seed Alex de Minaur, who reached the semi-finals when Czech 20-year-old Jakub Mensik retired from their match with a left-leg injury while trailing 1-4 in the opening set.
American teenager Learner Tien reached his first ATP Tour semi-final when fourth seed Lorenzo Musetti retired trailing 4-6 6-3 3-0. The Italian appeared to be hampered by a thigh or groin issue.
Eighth seed Daniil Medvedev cruised past German second seed Alexander Zverev 6-3 6-3. The Russian has beaten Zverev 14 times in 20 meetings, including eight of their past 10 matches.