China Open Men's Qualifying: Bautista Agut Advances to Face Dimitrov

         On September 25, the final round of the men's singles qualifying at the China Open 2024 concluded, with Roberto Bautista Agut, Jakub Mensik, Zizou Bergs, Pavel Kotov securing spots in the main draw. Kotov is set to face Chinese player Zhou Yi in the first round.

Spanish player Bautista Agut, a former top-10 player and Wimbledon semifinalist, battled through a nearly three-hour match against Roman Safiullin, ultimately winning 7-5, 3-6, 6-4. In the first round of the main draw, Bautista Agut will meet No.5 seed Grigor Dimitrov. who defeated Bautista Agut in three sets in the quarterfinals of the China Open in 2017.

19 years old Czech rising star Jakub Mensik reached into the main draw by defeating french man Arthur Rinderknech 6-2, 5-7, 6-2. Mensik has rapidly climbed the rankings from outside the top 150 at the beginning of the year to No. 66, and he is recognized as one of the promising players alongside Juncheng Shang. Mensik will open against World No.31 Francisco Cerundolo from Argentina.

In another close match lasting over three hours, Pavel Kotov triumphed over Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena with a score of 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-3, setting up a first-round encounter with Zhou Yi. Belgian player Zizou Bergs also took out french man Corentin Moutet 6-4, 6-4. He will face No.6 seed, the Olympics bronze medalist Lorenzo Musetti.

In men's doubles qualifying, Olympic gold medalist Pierre-Hugues Herbert teamed up with Grand Slam champion Jamie Murray to edge past Ecuadorian Gonzalo Escobar and Diego Hidalgo, winning 6-7(7), 7-6(7), 12-10. They will face Brazilian duo Marcelo Melo and Rafael Matos in the first round of the main draw.