Against Cameron Norrie, Alexander Zverev is his usual self: a warning to Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz

The transition from the Laver Cup in Europe to the Asian tournaments is proving to be difficult for several players. In Beijing and Tokyo, several players who competed in the tournament the previous week have already been eliminated in their opening matches.

In Tokyo, Casper Ruud, Brandon Nakashima, and Taylor Fritz were all knocked out early, losing to Luciano Darderi, Ugo Humbert, and Jaume Munar, respectively. In Beijing, however, Flavio Cobolli was eliminated in the first round of the ATP 500 by Roman Safiullin.

Alexander Zverev managed to avoid the same fate. The world No. 2, who was also coming off the Laver Cup in London, defeated Cameron Norrie, ranked No. 39, in two sets—7-6(1), 6-4—in one hour and 39 minutes in the Chinese capital, where Jannik Sinner will not be playing.

The German had to save a set point in the first set before dominating the tiebreak. In the second set, he then sealed the victory against an opponent he had already beaten eight times.

In the second round, Zverev will face the winner of the match between China’s Shang Juncheng, ranked No. 250 in the world, and Argentina’s Sebastian Baez, ranked No. 51.