Wednesday 4 October 2017 17:12, UK
British No 2 Kyle Edmund has been knocked out of the China Open in the first round after a straight-sets defeat to Alexander Zverev.
Edmund lost 3-6 6-7 (3-7) to the German in Beijing, but can count himself unlucky to have received such a tough first-round draw.
Zverev is seeded second in the tournament, and has risen to a career-high number four in the world rankings.
The match was won fairly comfortably by Zverev, who relied on his serve to power past Edmund.
Zverev smashed down seven aces compared to his opponent's three, and served up just three double faults compared to Edmund's seven.
The 20-year-old also won 71 per cent of points on his own serve, while Edmund could win just 59 per cent - highlighting the gulf between the two players on the day.
Zverev eased his way to the first set, breaking Edmund twice to move into a 6-3 lead. But Edmund upped his game in the second set, and both players broke serve as they entered a tie break.
Ultimately, however, it was Zverez, who has five tour titles this year, who progressed to a second-round match with Fabio Fognini.
British hopes in China now rest with Aljaz Bedene, who moved into the second round with a straight-sets win over Marcel Granollers. Bedene will now face the fifth seed, Roberto Bautista Agut.
Sky Sports Tennis will have all the action from the ATP China Open, Japan Open and Shanghai Masters before the action heads to Paris.
The Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan and season-ending extravaganza World Tour Finals at London's O2 in November end another memorable year which will covered via our website sky.mnosports.com/tennis with live blogs and updates as the season reaches its climax
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