Alexander Zverev avoided a first-round upset at the Halle Open after battling past fellow German Oscar Otte on Tuesday.
The second seed managed to triumph in his first match since the French Open final defeat to Carlos Alcaraz, eventually winning 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-4.
Zverev has twice reached the show-piece at this event, in 2016 and 2017, though acknowledged challenges remain with adapting from the clay-court surfaces at Roland-Garros.
"A week ago, I was playing on clay still basically," Zverev said in his on-court interview. "He made it very tough for me, no rhythm at all.
"That's how grass-court tennis is sometimes and I'm just happy with the win.
"He did make it extremely difficult for me, so credit to him. I'm obviously happy that I won and hopefully, it's going to be a level above in the next match."
The world number four is now 35-10 for the season and will look to extend that record when he meets Italy's Lorenzo Sonego in the next round.
Zverev has won all three head-to-head meetings with Sonego, and will fancy his chances if he delivers another heavy-hitting performance next time out.
The 27-year-old smashed 54 winners, compared to his 40 unforced errors, to triumph in just over two hours under the OWL Arena roof.
Stefanos Tsitsipas also began his grass season with victory, defeating home hopeful Henri Squire 7-6 (9-7) 7-6 (7-2).
The Greek sixth seed will face Luciano Darderi or Jan-Lennard Struff in the second round.
Gauff sees off Burel on return in China
Coco Gauff prevailed in her opening match at the China Open, beating Clara Burel in straight sets on Friday to reach the third round.
Playing in her first match since her US Open fourth-round exit, Gauff held off the Frenchwoman's challenge, winning 7-5 6-3 in 102 minutes.
The pair traded breaks early in the contest before Burel pulled in front and looked sure to take the first set.
Gauff pushed back though, saving a set point at 5-4 before eventually edging in front with her fourth break of the set.
It was slightly more straightforward in the second, with Gauff's patience eventually rewarded as a three-game winning streak at the end of the match sealed the victory, setting up a meeting with Katie Boulter in the next round.
Data Debrief: Hard court advantage
With this victory, Gauff has now won 46 matches at WTA-1000 hard-court events, equalling Caroline Wozniacki for the most such wins before turning 21 since the format was introduced in 2009 (46).
It also marks Gauff's 30th straight win over a player ranked outside the top 50, with her last such defeat coming 15 months ago in the first round of Wimbledon 2023 against Sofia Kenin.
Osaka ends long wait for comeback win against Putintseva in China
Naomi Osaka rallied to beat Yulia Putintseva in the second round of the China Open on Friday, ending a wait of over two years for a comeback victory.
Osaka came from a set down to win 3-6 6-4 6-2 and tee up a third-round meeting with Katie Volynets, extending her winning streak at the Beijing event to eight matches.
She had failed to win any of her previous 22 matches when going a set down, a streak she was mightily relieved to snap.
"I heard that stat from my agent," Osaka told reporters after her win.
"I wanted to break it really badly because I knew that I also had a stat about three-setters before I took my break, so that was really important to me.
"I also wanted to show myself that I could win a match and fight without playing as perfectly as I wanted to."
Data Debrief: Back-to-back for Osaka
This is the first time Osaka has won back-to-back matches since June at 's-Hertogenbosch, where she reached the quarter-finals before falling to Bianca Andreescu.
The last time she won from a set down, meanwhile, was in the Miami Open semi-finals in 2022, when she beat Belinda Bencic before losing to Iga Swiatek in the final.
Home favourite Zhang stuns Navarro in huge China Open upset
World number 595 Zhang Shuai stunned US Open semi-finalist Emma Navarro at the China Open on Friday, just two days after ending a 603-day winless streak.
Zhang ended a 24-match losing run – which began after the Lyon Open in 2023 – by beating American McCartney Kessler 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-1) in her Beijing opener on Wednesday.
That long-awaited victory teed up a clash with world number eight Navarro, who Zhang beat 6-4 6-2 in a major upset in front of a jubilant crowd in the Chinese capital.
Zhang, who is the lowest-ranked player to ever compete in the main draw at the WTA 1000 event, got to the net on her second match point to smash a forehand winner past Navarro, teeing up a meeting with Belgium's Greet Minnen for Sunday.
Data Debrief: Beijing witnesses historic upset
Ranked a lowly 595th in the world, Zhang has become the lowest-ranked player to defeat a top-10 player at the China Open since the tournament's 2004 inception.
She had also won her most recent meeting with a top-10 player, beating Caroline Garcia in Tokyo back in 2022.
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