BEIJING – Coco Gauff reached the third round of the China Open by defeating Clara Burel 7-5, 6-3 in her first match since the US Open.

Sixth-ranked Gauff, who saved a set point from a 5-4 deficit in the first set, will face Katie Boulter of Great Britain, who advanced with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over American Taylor Townsend.

Gauff is playing in Beijing after recently parting ways with coach Brad Gilbert after more than a year and a shared Grand Slam title. That split came shortly after Gauff’s defense of the US Open championship, which she won in 2023, ended with a fourth-round loss to Emma Navarro.

Earlier, Carlos Alcaraz, ranked No. 3, withstood a fierce attack from the strong-serving Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard to win 6-4, 6-4 in his opening game.

Second-seeded Alcaraz took advantage of both opportunities to break, although the 51st-ranked Frenchman regularly hit serves at 140 mph (225 km/h).

Mpetshi Perricard won 83% of the points on his first serve, but allowed costly errors at the start of each set, which Alcaraz used cleverly enough to capitalize on them.

“The plan was simply to get as much returns as possible,” Alcaraz said. “To be honest, it wasn’t easy. He is a really strong player. Big serves, big hits from the baseline. So I had to be really focused.”

Daniil Medvedev safely mastered a difficult first game with 6:3, 6:4 against French veteran Gael Monfils.

Roman Safiullin, who made it into the main draw as a lucky loser in the qualification, defeated the three-time major winner Stan Wawrinka 6:3, 6:4 and meets the leader Jannik Sinner.

Sixth-seeded Lorenzo Musetti and seventh-seeded Karen Khachanov also advanced.

In the women’s draw, second seed Jessica Pegula opened her account by defeating Diane Parry of France 6-1, 7-6 (4).

Pegula broke Parry’s serve three times in a quick opening set. In the second set, both players traded breaks before the US Open finalist won the last five points of the tiebreak.

The American will next face No. 32 seed Veronika Kudermetova, who defeated China’s Wang Xinyu 3-6, 6-4, 7-5.

Four-time major winner Naomi Osaka recovered from a set down to beat Yulia Putintseva 3-6, 6-4, 6-2. Osaka will face American Katie Volynets in the third round.

Sixth-seeded Emma Navarro lost to Chinese wildcard Zhang Shuai 6-4, 6-2, while 12th-seeded Diana Shnaider defeated former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin 6-2, 6-3.

US Open winner Aryna Sabalenka plays against Thai qualifier Mananchaya Sawangkaew.

Japan Open

Second seed Hubert Hurkacz lost to US Open semifinalist Jack Draper 6-4, 6-4 in the second round in Tokyo, a day after top seed Taylor Fritz and third seed Casper Ruud were eliminated.

While Draper and Hurkacz were tied in aces and winners, it was the Polish player’s 30 unforced errors to Draper’s 20 that proved costly.

Draper will next face Brandon Nakashima or Ugo Humbert in the quarterfinals.

Defending champion Ben Shelton also reached the quarterfinals after defeating Mariano Navone 6-4, 6-3. Shelton, along with Fritz, traveled from the Laver Cup in Berlin to Japan, where they represented Team World in a loss to Alcaraz’s Team Europe.

Matteo Berrettini won the first set tiebreak against Frenchman Arthur Fils before the Italian withdrew from the match due to injury.