Andy Murray beat Davis Cup team mate Kyle Edmund and David Ferrer dispatched German youngster Alexander Zverev as experience won out over youth in the China Open quarterfinals on Friday.
The three-time Grand Slam champion was forced into a tense 20-point tie break in the first set by his 21-year-old compatriot, finally clinching it with a forehand passing shot.
But Edmund — who upset 18th-ranked Roberto Bautista Agut in the second round — was unable to hold his serve in the second, conceding the match 7-6 (11/9), 6-2.
Zverev, 19, was looking to cap a breakout season with a second title in Beijing, but was unable to capitalise on his first set lead as he was overpowered by Ferrer 6-7 (4/7), 6-1, 7-5.
The German upset the Swiss World no. 3 Stan Wawrinka to win his maiden ATP title at St. Petersburg in September, having downed number nine Tomas Berdych in the semis.
In Beijing he beat 10th-ranked Austrian Dominic Thiem in the first round, making him the first teenager to defeat three top 10 players in a row since Boris Becker in 1986.
Despite the loss, Zverev — who started the year ranked 83 — is expected to rise to 21 when the new rankings are released.
Madison has Kvitova’s keys On the women’s side, in an Olympic effort Madison Keys overpowered Petra Kvitova in their first meet since the Czech denied the American a bronze medal in Rio.
It took two hours and 40 minutes, three sets and two tie breaks for Keys to exact revenge over the double Wimbledon champion, 6-3, 6-7 (2/7), 7-6 (7/5).
A double fault by Kvitova turned the first set in favour of Keys, but she pulled back in the second pushing it to a tie break, which she won.
There was little between the pair in the final set, but Kvitova’s 32 unforced errors to Keys’ 25 ultimately cost the Czech a semi-final place — and ended her eight-match winning streak.
Meanwhile, Johanna Konta crushed home hero Zhang Shuai in two sets in the quarter-final match.
Buoyed by the home crowd, Zhang broke the Briton twice to take the opening four points of the match.
But at 0-4 down, Konta abruptly turned the tide in her favour winning 12 consecutive points to book her semi-final place with a 6-4, 6-0 victory.
The fourteenth-ranked Briton is now one win away from joining the ranks of the top 10, which would make her the first British woman to join the elite grouping since Jo Durie in 1984. Konta next faces Key.
Monfils, Kyrgios in semis Tokyo: French second-seed Gael Monfils will face Australian Nick Kyrgios in the Japan Open semi-finals, after he beat Croatian seventh-seed Ivo Karlovic on Friday.
Fourth-seed Marin Cilic defeated Juan Monaco 7-5, 6-1 and is now pitted against Belgian fifth-seed David Goffin. Monfils pulled off a nail-biting 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (8/6) win against Karlovic, with both men landing nine aces in their 91-minute contest.
Monfils, a runner-up at the Japan Open’s 2010 edition, is now set to play Kyrgios, who comfortably fended off a challenge from Gilles Muller of Luxembourg 6-4, 6-2.
Croatian Cilic meanwhile will play Goffin in the semi-final, with the Belgian having won their two previous meetings this year. Goffin came from behind to beat Joao Sousa 1-6, 7-5 and 6-2 in their quarter-final match.
The four men’s march toward the Tokyo trophy came as their big-name rivals pulled out due to injuries.
