Alexander Zverev loses to Malek Jaziri in see-saw China Open battle
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Thursday 4 October 2018 17:39, UK
Malek Jaziri piled more misery on Alexander Zverev with a stunning 7-6 2-6 6-4 win at the China Open on Thursday.
The German 21-year-old has fallen to No 5 in the world rankings after failing to impress on the Grand Slam stage this season and crashed out of the US Open in the third round.
Despite picking up Tour titles at the Madrid Open, Washington Open and Bavarian Championships this year - Zverev could not defeat world No 61 Jaziri - and looked furious as he smashed his racket on court after the shock defeat.
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The Tunisian 34-year-old won a hotly-contested first set 7-6 before Zverev battled back 6-2 in the second, but Jaziri held his nerve as the German choked in the third.
Jaziri will face Nikoloz Basilashvili in Friday's quarter-final after the Georgian beat Fernando Verdasco 7-6 (7-3) 6-4.
Verdasco eliminated Britain's Andy Murray in both the US Open and Shenzhen Open this season, but could not find his form against Basilashvili, who became the first Georgian player to win an ATP tournament earlier this year.
Elsewhere in Bejing, Italian fourth seed Fabio Fognini cruised past 20-year-old Russian Andrey Rublev 6-4 6-3.
Fogini has climbed to No 14 in the rankings after an impressive year which has seen him accumulate three Tour titles. They came at the Brasil Open, Swedish Open and Los Cabos Open respectively.
He faces Hungarian world No 45 Marton Fucsovics in the last eight after the 26-year-old knocked out eighth seed Marco Cecchinato.
British No 1 Kyle Edmund booked his quarter-final spot on Wednesday and will play Serbian Dusan Lajovic on Friday, while top seed Juan Martin del Potro is up against Filip Krajinovic.
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Tennis is back on Sky Sports screens with the Japan Open & China Open in October while we will also have coverage of the ATP Finals in November with every match live on Sky Sports.
