Alex de Minaur of Australia hits a return against compatriot John Millman during their men's singles first round match at the Zhuhai Championships tennis tournament in Zhuhai in China's southern Guangdong province on September 24, 2019. AFP
ZHUHAI, China: Andy Murray's singles comeback hit another roadblock as he lost 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 to Alex de Minaur of Australia in the second round of the Zhuhai Championships on Thursday.
Murray won his first tour-level match since having hip surgery in January when he beat Tennys Sandgren on Tuesday but couldn't follow that up despite winning the first set, as he only converted two of his nine break points.
Top-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas also exited the tournament as he was forced to retire before the third set against Adrian Mannarino of France. He had called for a trainer twice during the match.
Andreas Seppi of Italy advanced after saving five match points in the deciding tiebreaker before beating local favorite Zhang Zhizhen 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (8). Also, Croatia's Borna Coric, who beat Wu Di of China 6-3, 6-3.
In another marathon match at the Chengdu Open, unseeded Belarusian Egor Gerasimov upset top-seeded John Isner 6-7 (11), 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4) to reach the quarterfinals.
Gerasimov will face Denis Shapovalov of Canada, who dispatched America's Bradley Klahn 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3).
In another upset, Portugal's Joao Sousa ousted second-seeded Felix Auger Aliassime of Canada 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-4. He will play Lloyd Harris, who beat Serbia's Dujan Lajovic 6-3, 6-3.
