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British number one Kyle Edmund’s poor form has continued as he was beaten in the first round of the Chengdu Open by Cristian Garin on Monday. The seventh seed was on the court for just 72 minutes at the Sichuan International Tennis Center, as he suffered a comprehensive 6-3 6-2 defeat by his Chilean opponent, who is unseeded for the tournament but ranked just one place below him in the world.
Edmund has now lost four matches in a row, including three successive first-round exits, with his last victory on the ATP Tour coming against Nick Kyrgios at the Rogers Cup nearly two months ago. There was more positive news on the British front at the Zhuhai Championships, as Cameron Norrie booked his place in the second round with a 6-1 6-4 victory over Germany’s Peter Gojowczyk.
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The world number 68’s reward for reaching round two will be a clash with third seed Gael Monfils on Wednesday, a player he has only faced once before, although that ended in a routine straight-sets defeat at Eastbourne back in 2017.
Andy Murray is also in action in Zhuhai and he will get his tournament underway against American Tennys Sandgren on Tuesday. The former world number one is still on the comeback trail following hip surgery at the start of the year and he is yet to win singles match on the ATP Tour since returning, a run that includes a defeat to Sandgren at last month’s Winston-Salem Open.
