On his debut at the Beijing Open, Lorenzo Musetti defeated Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 7-6, 6-7, 6-4 to reach the second round. The victory was his fourth against the Frenchman — whom he had previously beaten on grass in Stuttgart and Wimbledon in 2024, and on hard courts at last month’s US Open — and a much-needed boost after recent disappointments.

Just a couple of days earlier in Chengdu, Musetti had lost the final to Alejandro Tabilo , falling 7-6 in the third set despite holding two match points at 6-5. It was his second consecutive final defeat in Chengdu (in 2024 it was Juncheng Shang who got the best of him) and his fifth straight loss in an ATP final, extending a three-year title drought since his last triumph in Naples in 2022.

Despite the win in Beijing, however, the spotligh

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