Buyunchaokete upsets Lorenzo Musetti, makes Chinese history in Beijing | ATP Tour

In Beijing

Buyunchaokete upsets Musetti, makes Chinese history in Beijing

It is the second men’s singles quarter-final in tournament history

September 29, 2024

Buyunchaokete’s rise shows no sign of slowing down.

The Chinese player continued his rise on Sunday when he defeated Paris Olympic bronze medalist Lorenzo Musetti 6-2, 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals of the China Open in Beijing. He will next play fourth seed Andrey Rublev or Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

Guess who? 👻

Bu Yunchaokete holds the biggest win of his career to reach the quarter-finals in Beijing.@ChinaOpen | #China Open pic.twitter.com/AHlKn81qQl

– ATP Tour (@atptour) September 29, 2024

Before last week’s Hangzhou Open, Buyunchaokete had played only one ATP Tour event. The 22-year-old reached the semifinals of his first ATP 250 title and is now in the last eight of his first ATP 500 tournament.

“I’m really happy. I really enjoy playing at home, especially last week in Hangzhou, where I trained for almost 15 years and here at home in China,” he said in his interview after the game. “I was looking forward to this competition because I’m the first 500 and last week I was my first 250, so I’m really excited.”

Buyunchaokete is just the second Chinese men’s quarter-finalist in China Open history, joining Zhang Ze, who accomplished the feat in 2012. He joined an exclusive club by earning his first win against a Top 20 opponent in the PIF ATP Rankings in one hour. and 29 minutes.

Less than five months ago, Buyunchaokete became World No. 239. The 22-year-old is now No. 83 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings and climbing.

The home favorite faced a formidable opponent in the World No. 18 Musetti, who seemed uncomfortable with his right arm throughout the game. But the Italian continued to hold the Chinese player to victory, coming from a double break deficit in the second set.

Buyunchaokete told the action and it was the key. He won 53 percent of his first return points and converted five of his eight break points according to Infosys ATP Stats.

“I lost a little focus, my energy. Maybe I’m free because he started shooting drop shots, other tricks,” said Buyunchaokete. “I’m happy [I] it’s back [at] 4-all and I had a break again [was able] to finish the game. I am really happy.”

In the other half of the draw, Karen Khachanov survived a long battle and outlasted Francisco Cerundolo in a tough match, booking her place in the quarter-finals. The 28-year-old saved four points in the second set according to Infosys ATP Stats, and needed six points to win 7-6 (4), 7-6 (9) in two hours and nine minutes.

The Argentine had more than enough chances to force a deciding set, but was not deterred by the strength of the former No. 8 in the PIF ATP Rankings, who had back-to-back wins for the first time since reaching the fourth round of the ATP Masters 1000 event in Rome. in May.

After extending his Lexus ATP Head2Head streak to 7-0 over Cerundolo, seventh-seeded Khachanov will face either Tallon Griekspoor or Carlos Alcaraz for a place in the last four and boost his chances of claiming a seventh ATP Tour title.