Day Two of the ATP China Open will get underway on Friday, September 29, at the National Tennis Center in Beijing. Here is our Preview of the ATP 500 event including Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev, and Jannik Sinner.

The day will begin on Diamond with the clash between second seed Medvedev and World No. 13 Tommy Paul. The Russian leads their head-to-head 1-0, having defeated him in four sets at the 2021 Roland Garros, and will be hoping to carry on the momentum from his recent run to the final of the US Open. Meanwhile, Paul can take confidence from being a part of Team World's landslide victory against Team Europe at the Laver Cup last weekend.

Next, World No. 4 Holger Rune will take on Felix Auger-Aliassime. The Dane has had a much more promising season overall, winning 37 matches out of 54 and lifting the trophy at the Munich Open in April. Meanwhile, the Canadian has won 14 matches out of 29 and struggled to make it past the first round of several tournaments in recent months, including the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open.

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However, Rune has also been having a difficult time as of late due to a back injury. This has led him to retire from several matches in the last two months, accompanied by multiple first-round exits. On the other hand, Auger-Aliassime looked confident at the recent Laver Cup, where he won all of his matches, so it will be interesting to see who prevails in Beijing.

Alcaraz to face Hanfmann and Sinner set for Evans clash

Top seed Alcaraz will be last out on Diamond, where he will face unseeded qualifier Yannick Hanfmann in what will be their first meeting on the ATP Tour. They have played each other once before at the 2019 Copa Sevilla Challenger, where the Spaniard defeated the German player 7-6, 7-6.

The World No. 53 was impressive in qualifiers, ousting eighth seed Dusan Lajovic and third seed Miomir Kecmanovic in straight sets to make the draw. However, it will be a monumental task to progress to the second round against the two-time Grand Slam champion.

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Prior to this, World No. 10 Alexander Zverev will take on Diego Schwartzman. The German leads their head-to-head 3-2 and won their most recent clash at the 2020 Nitto ATP Finals. He is looking on good form lately after a run to the quarter-finals of the US Open before emerging victorious against Roman Safiullin in the final of the Chengdu Open last week.

Over on Lotus, sixth seed Sinner will start the day with his clash against World No. 33 Dan Evans. Both players had success over the summer with the Brit taking the title at the ATP 500 DC Open a week before the Italian won his first ATP Masters 1000 tournament at the Canadian Open. This will be their first match against each other.

Tsitsipas, Ruud, and Rublev also playing today

World No. 5 Stefanos Tsitipas will follow this match with his clash against Nicolas Jarry. The Greek player and the Chilean big hitter are currently level in their head-to-head with two wins each. Tsitsipas won their most recent clash at the Los Cabos Open in August.

Last up on Lotus will be World No. 9 Casper Ruud who will be facing Jan-Lennard Struff. The World No. 22 is playing his second tournament since he returned from an injury that forced him to miss several months of the season. Meanwhile, Ruud will be hoping for redemption here after several early defeats in recent months, including being eliminated in the second round of the US Open.

On Brad Drewett, World No. 6 Andrey Rublev will take on Cameron Norrie. Their head-to-head is currently at 2-2 so the Russian will be hoping to get ahead after a successful few weeks which included him making the quarter-finals at Flushing Meadows and winning the Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS) in Frankfurt.

Overall, it is clear that the field in Beijing is packed with talent, and with several players ranked in or just outside the Top 10 battling it out here, qualification for the upcoming ATP Finals will not be far from many players' minds.

Schedule for Day Two China Open