British number one Jack Draper secured his first singles victory since the US Open with a straightforward win over Italy's Mattia Bellucci in the first round of the Japan Open.
The 22-year-old needed exactly one hour and 10 minutes to progress with a 6-4 6-2 victory over the qualifier, who succumbed to a near-faultless display from the Flushing Meadows semi-finalist on serve.
Since becoming the first man since Andy Murray in 2012 to reach the US Open semi-finals, where he lost to Jannik Sinner after being physically sick throughout their gruelling battle, Draper had experienced a pair of Davis Cup disappointments against Francisco Cerundolo and Felix Auger-Aliassime.
However, after triumphing in the first round of the Japan Open doubles with Tomas Machac, Draper asserted his dominance over world number 103 Bellucci, who lost serve on a double fault in the fifth game.
After closing out the first set with an ace, Draper capitalised on a spate of unforced errors from Bellucci to win five of the first six games of the second set, earning the double break with relative ease.
Bellucci would force Draper to serve out the match, but the 22-year-old had no issue doing so with a final love hold, and his reward will be a heavyweight showdown with Hubert Hurkacz in the last 16.
The statistics backed up Draper's dominance; the 22-year-old did not allow Bellucci a single break point during the contest and hit 23 winners compared to 15 unforced errors, in addition to winning 90% of points behind his first serve.
Tearful Harriet Dart defeated by Clara Tauson in China
© Imago
However, Draper's compatriot Harriet Dart could not follow in her fellow Briton's footsteps as she suffered a calamitous collapse against Denmark's Clara Tauson in the first round of the China Open in Beijing.
The world number 76 was ostensibly cruising to victory at a set and a break up against the Danish player, who also appeared to be struggling with a back injury, but Tauson pulled off an outstanding comeback to prevail 5-7 6-4 6-1 in a marathon battle lasting nearly three hours.
After edging a tight first set, Dart capitalised on Tauson's suboptimal physical condition to storm 4-1 up in the second, but the world number 72 somehow defied her injury to win five games on the spin and level the match.
The 10th game was a particularly excruciating affair for Dart, who missed seven chances to break Tauson as she was serving for the set and let out a blood-curdling scream of frustration before the Dane forced a third.
A waning Dart struggled to hold back the tears as she quickly ceded the double break in the deciding set, and the big-hitting Tauson ruthlessly converted her first match point to progress to round two, where she meets Jasmine Paolini.
Great Britain are still represented in the singles by national number one Katie Boulter, who takes on Taylor Townsend in the second round on Friday, but Emma Raducanu had to pull out of the China Open with the foot injury she suffered in Seoul.
Ben Knapton
