ATP Roundup: Jenson Brooksby charges into Chengdu QFs

CHENGDU: Jenson Brooksby fired seven aces, saved four of six break points and wore down Italy's Lorenzo Sonego in a 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 victory to advance to the quarterfinals of the Chengdu Open on Friday in China.

Brooksby, seeking his second ATP Tour title and his first since March 2025, broke Sonego's serve in the 11th game of the second set and served out to force a third set, where the American dominated on his first-service points (12 of 14) to cruise to victory.

Also Friday, France's Adrian Mannarino downed third seed and defending champion Alejandro Tabilo of Chile 6-4, 6-4. Mannarino fired 10 aces and saved all three break points he faced.

Mannarino will face No. 7 seed Denis Shapovalov of Canada, who was a 6-2, 6-3 winner over Czech foe Vit Kopriva. Brooksby's next opponent will be Georgia qualifier Nikoloz Basilashvili, who upset Dutch fourth seed Botic van de Zandschulp 6-4, 7-5.

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AITO Hangzhou Open

No. 2 seed Andrey Rublev needed a tidy 77 minutes to dispatch Australia's Rinky Hijikata 6-3, 6-3 in the Round of 16 in China.

The Russian smashed 12 aces without a double fault and advanced to face Frenchman Hugo Gaston, who upset No. 7 seed Jaime Faria of Portugal 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4. He saved four of five break points to counter Faria's 11 aces.

Fellow Frenchman Kyrian Jacquet also pulled off an upset when he dominated No. 3 seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina 6-2, 6-3. His next opponent, No. 6 seed Fabian Marozsan of Hungary, topped Japanese qualifier Taro Daniel 6-7 (2), 7-5, 7-6 (1).

Laver Cup

World No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain teamed with the Czech Republic's Jakub Mensik to defeat Taylor Fritz and Kazakhstan's Alexander Bublik 6-4, 6-4 in doubles, giving Team Europe a 3-1 lead over Team World on the first day of the Laver Cup in London.

After Norway's Casper Ruud defeated Argentina's Francisco Cerundolo 6-7 (4), 6-4, 10-8 to open the day, American Brandon Nakashima scored Team World's only point of the day by outlasting Mensik 6-1, 3-6, 10-7. The final singles match of the day put Europe back ahead as Spaniard Rafael Jodar, in his Cup debut, took down Bublik 6-2, 6-3.

Alcaraz and Mensik proceeded to break Fritz and Bublik's serve once in each set while going 5-for-5 in saving break points.

Team Europe, which also features World No. 2 Alexander Zverev of Germany, will try to build an overwhelming lead Saturday when three singles matches and one doubles match are each worth two points. The competition concludes Sunday. --REUTERS