Carlos Alcaraz is already eyeing up another major landmark, straight after registering his 200th ATP-Tour level win on Sunday.

The Spaniard beat Tallon Griekspoor at the China Open in straight sets, prevailing 6-1 6-2, to progress from the second-round tie.

Among the 29 players to have reached the top of the world rankings, Alcaraz is the second fastest to win 200 matches. He did so in his 252nd match, with only John McEnroe hitting the landmark sooner (245 matches).

Meanwhile, he is just the third player born in the 2000s to achieve that feat, after Jannik Sinner and Felix Auger-Aliassime.

Alcaraz may have struggled to get back to his best since losing the Paris Olympics final to Novak Djokovic in August, but he looked at home on hard court once more in Beijing.

His win rate on the surface is 75.4%, and since the start of the 2020 season, he is one of only two players to hold two separate win rates of 75%+ on all three surfaces at ATP level, along with Djokovic.

Alcaraz, who won the French Open and Wimbledon this year, was proud to reach his latest achievement and said he is ready to start pushing to the next.

"I'm really happy about it - 200 wins is a great number," Alcaraz said after the match.

"But I am already looking for the third hundred. I just want to keep going, to keep rolling.

"I am looking forward to playing matches and to keep doing the things that I am doing."

Alcaraz will face seventh seed Karen Khachanov in the quarter-finals in Beijing.

Carlos Alcaraz won an ATP Tour-level match for the 200th time as he defeated Tallon Griekspoor at the China Open.

World number three Alcaraz prevailed 6-1 6-2 on Sunday to hit another milestone in his already stellar career.

The four-time grand slam champion needed less than an hour to progress from the second-round tie.

Alcaraz struck four aces, converted five of seven break points and did not offer up a single chance for Griekspoor, who he also beat to claim his 100th career win, to break back in a dominant display.

The Spaniard has not been at his best since reaching the final of the Paris Olympics, which he lost to Novak Djokovic, but delivered a statement win as he aims to round out the 2024 season on a high note.

He will face Karen Khachanov in the quarter-finals.

Data Debrief: Double-centurion

While Alcaraz has been unable to hold down his world number one ranking his year, the 21-year-old has still enjoyed a remarkable season, winning two grand slams (the French Open and Wimbledon) and claiming an Olympic silver.

Among the 29 players to have reached the top of the world rankings, Alcaraz is the second fastest to win 200 matches. He has done so in his 252nd match, with only John McEnroe hitting the landmark sooner (245 matches).

It took Rafael Nadal 255 matches to reach the milestone, Novak Djokovic 274 (the same as Jannik Sinner) and Roger Federer needed 302 to get there.

Jannik Sinner found it "mentally tough" to come from behind and defeat Roman Safiullin at the China Open.

Sinner forged a second straight comeback to prevail 3-6 6-2 6-3 on Saturday.

The world number one, who equalled Alexander Zverev by picking up his 57th win of 2024, ensured he kept up his run of reaching at least the quarter-finals in every ATP Tour-level tournament he has reached this season.

But he certainly did not find it easy against the world number 69.

"A tough match. He’s an incredible player and we always have tough battles," said Sinner. 

"This was our third encounter, so we know each other a bit. He returns very well, and he was serving well at important moments. So I tried to keep up mentally, which today was very tough.

"Especially on these kinds of days, when maybe you don’t feel at your 100%, to find a way through means so much to me.

"He's an incredible player, so I knew I had to raise my level when it counted."

While Sinner was on court, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) announced it would be appealing against the decision to clear the Italian of blame after he twice tested positive for a banned substance.

WADA claimed last month's ruling, which was made by an independent tribunal, which found Sinner had no case to answer was "not correct", and the organisation has now appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), seeking a ban of between one and two years for the 23-year-old.

Sinner "Obviously I'm very disappointed and also surprised of this appeal because we had three hearings. All three hearings came out very positively for me.

"I knew it a couple of days ago, that they were going to appeal, that today it's going to go official."

Aryna Sabalenka moved to within two wins of equalling the best winning run of her career after crushing qualifier Mananchaya Sawangkaew at the China Open.

In her first appearance since her US Open triumph, the top seed overcame a slow start in Beijing to win 6-4 6-1 in an hour and 16 minutes against her Thai opponent. 

Sawangkaew did not make life easy for the Belarusian in the opener, breaking back to level the contest heading into the ninth game before Sabalenka took control. 

The world number two then clicked into gear, winning five games in a row in the second set to roar to a 13th straight victory, though she acknowledged the difficulties she faced on Saturday.

"She's playing great tennis. The first set she played incredible tennis. It was really difficult playing against her," Sabalenka said. 

"Especially on this surface in these conditions. I'm happy I was able to manage that set. In the second set, everything started coming together.

"Thank you so much for the support. It’s really amazing to be back here. I'm happy with this win."

Sabalenka will face Ashlyn Krueger in the next round after the American beat Wimbledon quarter-finalist Lulu Sun in straight sets. 

Data Debrief: Sabalenka continues China love story

Sabalenka has won 18 of her first 21 matches in WTA-1000 tournaments in China, the most of any player since the format's introduction in 2009.

Since Tianjin 2017, when she made her debut at a tournament in China, no women's player has won more matches at WTA events in this country than Sabalenka (38).

Jannik Sinner came from a set down once again to reach the quarter-finals of the China Open, beating Roman Safiullin in three sets on Saturday. 

After coming from behind in the last round against Nicolas Jarry, the Italian showed his powers of recovery once more, emerging a 3-6 6-2 6-3 victor in just over two hours. 

The world number one immediately found himself on the back foot, with Safiullin breaking his opening service game before grasping the early advantage with both hands. 

But as he did against Jarry, Sinner responded emphatically in the second, serving three of his four aces during the contest, including two love games, to send the encounter to a decider. 

From then on, the Italian never looked back. An early break set the tone, and despite missing one match point, the world number one booked his place in the last eight at the second time of asking against his plucky opponent. 

Sinner's next assignment will be Jiri Lehecka, who overcame qualifier Roberto Bautista Agut in three sets. 

Data Debrief: Comeback King

Sinner is now 9-2 on the ATP Tour in 2024 after losing the first set, with one loss coming in Monte Carlo to Stefanos Tsitsipas, who went on to win the tournament, and the other against Andrey Rublev in Montreal. 

But the Italian was far from his free-flowing best. He served up three double faults compared to Safiullin's two but did convert four of the break points he was presented with.

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. 

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.

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. 

Carlos Alcaraz beat big-serving Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in straight sets to advance to the second round of the China Open on Friday.

Breaks in the opening games of each set put Alcaraz on course for a 6-4 6-4 win in his opening match at the ATP 500-level event in Beijing, where he was on court for 81 minutes.

Perricard won 81% of points behind his first serve, displaying impressive firepower after those early wobbles, but Alcaraz was never unduly threatened after surviving some early pressure on his own serve. 

The Spaniard only dropped one point through his final three service games as he cruised to victory, teeing up a second-round match against Tallon Griekspoor.

Meanwhile, last year's runner-up Daniil Medvedev also made a confident start in the Chinese capital, downing Gael Monfils 6-3 6-4 in 92 minutes.

Medvedev converted five of his 10 opportunities to break, taking advantage of an inconsistent performance from Monfils as the Frenchman committed 46 unforced errors.

The Russian, who lost to Jannik Sinner in last year's China Open final, will face Adrian Mannarino in the second round.

Data Debrief: Medvedev's slow pace

Medvedev's victory over Monfils was his 40th in 56 matches in 2024. Only in 2018 (61 matches) did he require more outings to bring up his first 40 wins of a season.

But back at an event where he went agonisingly close to glory last year, Medvedev produced a composed performance, offering up just 22 unforced errors.

Coco Gauff says her main focus is on improving her serve after adding Matt Daly to her coaching team ahead of the China Open.

Daly, who has previously coached former Wimbledon semi-finalist Denis Shapovalov, has linked up with Gauff and her long-term mentor Jean-Christophe Faurel, following her split with Brad Gilbert earlier this month.

The world number six is gearing up for her first tournament since her US Open title defence ended at the hands of Emma Navarro in round four at Flushing Meadows.

Gauff, who hit 19 double-faults during that defeat, has failed to progress beyond the last 16 in any of her last five events, having previously reached three successive semi-finals at the Italian Open, French Open and Berlin Open.

But the 20-year-old is looking forward to a fresh start, and is already seeing the benefits of her work with Daly, ahead of facing Clara Burel in Beijing on Friday.

"There are other parts of my game that I want to work on, too, but the focus right now is the serve," she told the WTA Insider.

"When I serve well, I play pretty well. For me, that's the basis for my game. Already, the little bit we've done has made a drastic improvement to where I was three weeks ago.

"At this point, there's not a crazy amount, like going through a technique change or resetting everything. It's just subtle things that, doing it for a week now, will help me.

"I'm super excited about a new change and, hopefully, to improve other parts of my game. 

"Working with Brad was really great and, obviously, we had a great partnership. It was just time to do a reset, a refresh and add some things in my game that I felt like I need to do to have a better season next year."

Defending champion Jannik Sinner came from a set down to advance to the last 16 of the China Open, beating Chilean Nicolas Jarry in three sets on Thursday. 

Sinner needed an hour and 55 minutes to edge past the world number 28, eventually prevailing 4-6 6-3 6-1 in Beijing. 

Despite starting the contest with a love game, the Italian was broken in the seventh, with Jarry able to hold his serve to take a surprise lead. 

However, the world number one responded emphatically to take the encounter the distance, despite facing four aces from his opponent. 

Sinner continued his momentum in the decider, racing into an early lead after a break of serve before Jarry sent a ball long to seal the Italian's progression. 

Up next for Sinner is either Roman Safiullin or Stan Wawrinka, who face each other on Friday. 

Data Debrief: Sinner fights back again

Sinner is now 8-2 at on the ATP Tour in 2024 after losing the first set, with one loss coming to Stefanos Tsitsipas in Monte Carlo, who went on to win the tournament, and the other against Andrey Rublev in Montreal. 

But the Italian faced a stern test from Jarry. The Chilean served 12 aces compared to Sinner's one, though the latter did ultimately save four of the five break points he faced to drag himself over the line.

Naomi Osaka beat Lucia Bronzetti 6-3 6-2 in the first round of the China Open on Wednesday, in her first match under Serena Williams' former coach Patrick Mouratoglou.

Osaka was returning to the Beijing event for the first time since triumphing there in 2019, and she rallied after going a break down in the first set, ultimately winning comfortably.

The four-time major champion smashed 30 winners to Bronzetti's seven in the one-hour, 23-minute contest, teeing up a second-round clash with Yulia Putintseva.

Speaking after her win, she admitted she had harboured doubts over Mouratoglou initially but was now convinced she has found the right coach.

"I think the fact he was Serena's coach made me want to avoid him," she said. This isn't rude because I found out it's not true, but I didn't know if he was a good coach or he just coached Serena!

"Then I met him, talked to him, worked with him on the court. He absolutely is a really good coach. I'm really glad that he's taking this project on, as well." 

Data Debrief: Osaka's hard-court success

Osaka's victory means she now holds a 72.3% win percentage on hard courts at WTA 1000 events and grand slams (102 wins, 39 defeats).

Only three active players have a better such win ratio; Iga Swiatek (78.3%), Victoria Azarenka (75.5%) and Aryna Sabalenka (73.8%).

Aryna Sabalenka is targeting a return to the top of the world rankings to cap a stellar 2024.

Sabalenka won two grand slam titles this year, the Australian Open and the US Open, as well as clinching the top prize in Cincinnati as well.

She also reached the final in Madrid and Rome, losing out to world number one Iga Swiatek on both occasions.

The Belarusian currently sits over 2,000 points behind Swiatek in the women's rankings, but the Pole will not be defending her crown at the upcoming China Open.

Sabalenka is entering the tournament as the number one seed, and another victory would see her take a huge step towards closing the gap at the top.

"Of course that's one of my goals, to finish the season at world number one," Sabalenka said.

"I'm not trying to focus on that, I'm trying to focus on my game. There is only three tournaments left.

"I'm just trying to bring my best tennis on court. After the season, I'll see if it was enough to finish the year at number one or have to improve something else to get to number one.

"To be called the best player in the world, that means everything. It's good to know that you've been doing the right thing, all of that hours of training wasn't a waste of time."

The women's singles tournament in China begins on Wednesday, with the final to be held on October 6. 

World number one Iga Swiatek has withdrawn from the upcoming China Open due to personal reasons. 

Swiatek won her sixth WTA 1000 title on her tournament debut in Beijing last year, only dropping one set in the competition and beating Liudmila Samsonova in the final.

She fell to Jessica Pegula at the quarter-final stage of the US Open last time out, and she will surrender her China Open crown after being forced to back out of the competition.

"Due to personal matters, I'm forced to withdraw from the China Open in Beijing," Swiatek announced on Friday. 

"I'm very sorry as I had an amazing time playing and winning this tournament last year and was really looking forward to being back there.

"I know that the fans will experience great tennis there and I'm sorry I won’t be a part of it this time."

The women's singles tournament in China begins next Friday, with the final to be held on October 6.

Coco Gauff extended her winning run to a season-leading 15 matches with victory over Veronika Kudermetova at the China Open.

The US Open champion is bidding for a third successive title and saved four set points in the opener against last week’s Tokyo champion Kudermetova before clinching a 7-6 (5) 6-2 win in Beijing.

Gauff will next face sixth seed Maria Sakkari, who battled to a 6-4 2-6 6-3 victory over home hope Wang Xinyu.

World number one Aryna Sabalenka is also through to the quarter-finals after seeing off unseeded Italian Jasmine Paolini 6-4 7-6 (4).

That set up an Australian Open final rematch against fifth seed Elena Rybakina, who defeated 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva on Wednesday.

Sabalenka won one of the matches of the season in Melbourne but lost to her rival in the Indian Wells final.

“I know that I’ll have some chances to win this match,” said the top seed. “In the last match I lost, I got nervous a little bit and I rushed a little bit more. The key against Elena is just to stay calm, stay aggressive, and not over-rush things.”

Ninth seed Caroline Garcia is also through to the last eight after defeating Anna Kalinina 6-3 6-2.