No. 4 seed Pablo Carreno Busta has suffered a surprising first-round exit at the China Open in Beijing. Qualifier Steve Darcis lost just four games against Spain's Carreno Busta 6-0, 6-4. It was the first-ever meeting between the two at the ATP level.
Darcis converted his first break point of the match to open up a 2-0 lead. Two more breaks of serve in the fourth and sixth game got the job done for Darcis. Carreno Busta didn't have a single game or break point during the first set.
Carreno Busta finally got on the board when he served out to make it 1-1 in the second set.
Darcis saved a game point in the sixth game before he broke Carreno Busta for a 4-2 lead. Carreno Busta saved three match points on his serve in the eighth game to remain alive. Carreno Busta then broke Darcis for the first time in the match to reduce the deficit to 5-4. Disappointingly, the No. 4 seed then failed to serve out for 5-5 as Darcis took the decisive break in the 10th game to seal the win.
Darcis won 77 percent of his first serve points against Carreno Busta. Darcis broke Carreno Busta five times and saved 3-of-4 of the Spaniard's break point chances. The qualifier converted each three of his break points in a 6-0 first set win. The match came to an end after an hour and 20 minutes of play.
Darcis plays Lajovic next
Darcis is now set to meet Serbian tennis player Dusan Lajovic in the second round of the China Open. Qualifier Lajovic beat Carreno Busta's fellow compatriot Fernando Verdasco 6-1, 3-6, 6-3. Lajovic now has a 3-1 head-to-head record against Verdasco.
Lajovic opened the match strongly with a 3-0 lead.
One more break of serve in the sixth game gave Lajovic a comfortable 5-1 lead. The Serb routinely served out for the first set in the following game to get in front of Verdasco.
Lajovic saved three break points in the fourth game of the second set to make it all tied at 2-2. However, Verdasco managed to get his first break of the match in the eighth game to open up a 5-3 lead.
The Spaniard served out for the set in the following game to clinch a decider.
Verdasco continued his run, winning the opening two games of the third set. However, Lajovic refused to give back and won the match in style, eventually. Verdasco was serving at 3-2 when Lajovic won four games in a row to win the match.
Lajovic won 80 percent of his first serve points during the match. The qualifier also saved 4-of-6 of Verdasco's break point chances. The match came to an end after an hour and 25 minutes of action.
A qualifier will reach the quarter-finals
Darcis and Lajovic will be meeting for the first time at the ATP level when they clash off at the China Open. However, the two have played once against each other — four years ago at the Challenger event in Rome. Back then, Lajovic beat Darcis in a three-setter. It remains to be seen which of the two qualifiers will continue his good campaign and reach the Beijing quarter-finals.
