Murray returns to China and wins 1st-round match at Zhuhai. Linette advances to Guangzhou semifinals
Andy Murray, of Great Britain, right, shakes hands with Grigor Dimitrov, of Bulgaria, after losing to Dimitrov during the second round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023, in New York. (Mary Altaffer/AP Photo)
ZHUHAI, China -
Returning to China for the first time in four years, Andy Murray won his first-round match at the Zhuhai Championships on Thursday, beating local wild card Mo Ye Cong 7-5, 6-3.
Murray, bidding for his fifth tour title in China and the first there since the Beijing Open in 2016, edged a tight first-set by breaking in the 12th game. The seventh-seeded Brit then overpowered his 23-year-old opponent in the second set to take the match in 1 hour and 42 minutes.
The 36-year-old Murray next plays 63rd-ranked Aslan Karatsev, who defeated Matteo Arnaldi 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 6-2.
Fifth-seeded Tomas Martin Etcheverry beat Australian Luke Saville 6-4, 6-4.
Other winners included Kimmer Coppejans, Cristian Garin and qualifiers Marc Polmans and Alex Bolt.
Top-seeded Karen Khachanov faces Australia's Bolt in the second round, while second-seeded Cameron Norrie plays Polmans on Friday.
At the Chengdu Open, American Marcos Giron defeated fifth-seeded Alexander Bublik 7-6 (6), 6-3, and Australian Jordan Thompson beat sixth-seeded compatriot Max Purcell 6-2, 7-6 (8).
Giron, ranked No. 64, will next play Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech, who beat Tu Li 7-6 (5), 7-6 (6), while Thompson faces Dusan Lajovic. The Serbian needed three sets to overcome Belgian wild card Zizou Bergs 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.
Juan Pablo Varillas eased past Chinese wild card Cui Jie 6-1, 6-3 and seventh-seeded Miomir Kecmanovic beat qualifier Benjamin Lock 6-2, 6-3.
Top-seeded players Alexander Zverev, Lorenzo Musetti, Grigor Dimitrov and Daniel Evans play their second-round matches on Friday after receiving a bye in the first round.
At the Guangzhou Open, unseeded Yulia Putintseva from Kazakhstan beat third-seeded Tatjana Maria 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-0 in a near 3-hour match to reach her first semifinal of a WTA 250 event since Istanbul in April 2022.
Next up for Putintseva is top-seeded Magda Linette after the Pole advanced with a 7-5, 7-6 (6) win over fifth-seeded Rebeka Masarova of Spain.
Greet Minnen defeated fourth-seeded Lucia Bronzetti of Italy 6-7 (8), 6-4, 6-1. The seventh-seeded Belgian will play either Wang Xiyu or Viktoria Hruncakova, who play later Thursday, in the semifinals.
Shopping Trends
The Shopping Trends team is independent of the journalists at CTV News. We may earn a commission when you use our links to shop. Read about us.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING
BREAKING Claims of toxic workplace at CSIS absolutely 'devastating': PM says
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says allegations of a toxic workplace culture, involving harassment and sexual assault at Canada's spy agency are 'devastating' and 'absolutely unacceptable.'
TREND LINE
TREND LINE Liberals and NDP tied in ballot support, Conservatives 19 points ahead: Nanos
The governing minority Liberals' decline in the polls has now placed them in a tie for support with their confidence-and-supply partners the NDP, while the Conservatives are now 19 points ahead, according Nanos' latest ballot tracking.
Sask. premier says province will stop collecting carbon levy on electric heat
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe says the province intends to stop collecting the carbon levy on electric heat.
Here's when Canada Post says you should send out your holiday packages
Canada Post had released a holiday guide on when Canadians should mail out their packages.
What to know about the Sikh independence movement following U.S. accusation that activist was targeted
The U.S. has charged an Indian national in what prosecutors allege was a failed plot to assassinate a Sikh separatist at the behest of an unnamed Indian government official.
Filmmakers in Bruce Peninsula 'accidentally' discover 128-year-old shipwreck
Yvonne Drebert and Zach Melnick were looking for invasive mussels when they found something no has laid on eyes for 128 years.
Chinstrap penguins nod off more than 10,000 times per day in seconds-long 'microsleeps,' study finds
A new study has documented the peculiar sleeping habits of this species of penguin. Instead of taking one long continuous period of sleep, chinstrap penguins prefer to sleep in seconds-long intervals, more than 10,000 times a day.
Alternative healer faces manslaughter charge over woman's death at a U.K. slapping therapy workshop
An alternative healer who advocates a technique known as 'slapping therapy' was charged Thursday over the death of a woman at one of his workshops in England seven years ago.
Brazilian city enacts an ordinance secretly written by a surprising new staffer: ChatGPT
City lawmakers in Brazil have enacted what appears to be the nation's first legislation written entirely by artificial intelligence -- even if they didn't know it at the time.
Politics
-
Canadian government to buy Boeing P-8A surveillance planes to replace aging Auroras
The federal government is buying at least 14 Boeing surveillance planes from the United States to replace the aging CP-140 Aurora fleet, cabinet ministers announced Thursday. The deal costs more than $10 billion in total, including US$5.9 billion for the jets themselves, and the planes are expected to be delivered in 2026 and 2027.
-
BREAKING
BREAKING Claims of toxic workplace at CSIS absolutely 'devastating': PM says
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says allegations of a toxic workplace culture, involving harassment and sexual assault at Canada's spy agency are 'devastating' and 'absolutely unacceptable.'
-
TREND LINE
TREND LINE Liberals and NDP tied in ballot support, Conservatives 19 points ahead: Nanos
The governing minority Liberals' decline in the polls has now placed them in a tie for support with their confidence-and-supply partners the NDP, while the Conservatives are now 19 points ahead, according Nanos' latest ballot tracking.
Health
-
Years in the works, Canada's new 988 suicide crisis line is now available
In a massive step towards prioritizing the mental health and well-being of Canadians, the government has officially launched a nationwide, three-digit suicide crisis helpline.
-
Create national breast-implant registry to help prevent complications: committee
The House of Commons health committee is echoing long-standing calls from plastic surgeons and patient advocates for a national breast-implant registry to prevent illness and problems linked to the medical devices.
-
Alternative healer faces manslaughter charge over woman's death at a U.K. slapping therapy workshop
An alternative healer who advocates a technique known as 'slapping therapy' was charged Thursday over the death of a woman at one of his workshops in England seven years ago.
Sci-Tech
-
Chinstrap penguins nod off more than 10,000 times per day in seconds-long 'microsleeps,' study finds
A new study has documented the peculiar sleeping habits of this species of penguin. Instead of taking one long continuous period of sleep, chinstrap penguins prefer to sleep in seconds-long intervals, more than 10,000 times a day.
-
Brazilian city enacts an ordinance secretly written by a surprising new staffer: ChatGPT
City lawmakers in Brazil have enacted what appears to be the nation's first legislation written entirely by artificial intelligence -- even if they didn't know it at the time.
-
Make a mess of the streets of Toronto as a raccoon in new video game 'Trash Panda'
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to experience the city as a raccoon, wreaking havoc and being enamored with garbage? Well, a new video game created by a Toronto-based filmmaker lets you do just that. The game, ‘Trash Panda,’ was officially released on Nov. 15 and is now available for sale.
Entertainment
-
Shane MacGowan, lead singer of The Pogues and a laureate of booze and beauty, dies at age 65
Shane MacGowan, the singer-songwriter and frontman of 'Celtic Punk' band The Pogues, best known for the Christmas ballad 'Fairytale of New York,' died Thursday, his family said. He was 65.
-
Judge mulls extending pause on John Oates' sale of stake in business with Daryl Hall
A lawsuit by Daryl Hall over John Oates' plan to sell his share of the Hall & Oates duo's joint venture without the other's permission headed Thursday to court, where a judge will decide whether to keep pausing the deal.
-
Will an earlier Oscars broadcast attract more viewers? ABC plans to try the 7 p.m. slot in 2024
Academy Awards enthusiasts won't have to stay up quite as late to hear the best picture winner in March. The 96th Oscars will begin one hour early, with the official show starting at 7 p.m. Eastern for the first time, ABC said Thursday.
