Overnight Tennis Desk

On Wednesday at the China Open in Beijing, No. 13 seed Elise Mertens beat No. 3 seed Coco Gauff 6-3, 6-3 for her first win in six meetings with the 2024 champion. Mertens won 10 of her last 11 service points and sealed the fourth-round match with her second ace. Gauff finished with 34 unforced errors, including eight double faults. Mertens reached her first Beijing quarterfinal in seven tries and will face No. 8 seed Iga Swiatek.

Swiatek beat Iva Jovic 6-1, 6-3 in their first career meeting to reach the quarterfinals in 1 hour, 36 minutes. The Pole won the first five games of the opening set and broke twice late in the second after Jovic had leveled at 3-3. Swiatek is seeking her 31st career WTA 1000 quarterfinal.

Wild card Qinwen Zheng beat Alina Charaeva 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 in 2 hours and 11 minutes to reach the Beijing quarterfinals for the second time in four appearances. All four of Zheng's Beijing matches have gone three sets. No. 6 seed Elina Svitolina advanced with a 6-2, 6-3 win over No. 21 seed Ann Li in 1 hour and 31 minutes, setting up a first-time meeting with Zheng.

Daniel Altmaier rallied past Holger Rune 1-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 in 2 hours and 14 minutes at the Rolex Shanghai Masters. Rune raced through the opening set before Altmaier broke at 4-4 in the third and finished with a backhand pass on match point at 5-4. Altmaier plays Ben Shelton in the second round.

The Shanghai Masters continues Thursday with Stadium Court singles from 12 p.m. local time. Qualifier Kimmer Coppejans faces Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Hubert Hurkacz plays James Duckworth in the day session. Luca Van Assche meets wild card Yunchaokete Bu, and Cameron Norrie faces qualifier Dalibor Svrcina not before 6 p.m.

Beijing quarterfinals on Capital Group Diamond Court begin at 1 p.m. local time. Karolina Muchova plays Nikola Bartunkova not before 3 p.m., and Ekaterina Alexandrova meets Mirra Andreeva not before 7 p.m.

Tennisin60.com—your tennis on demand, anytime, anywhere!