Andy Murray loses to Dominic Thiem at China Open

Andy Murray's run at the China Open is over.

The former No. 1, who had won consecutive singles matches for the first time since undergoing hip surgery in January, lost to topseeded Dominic Thiem 6-2, 7-6 (3) Friday in the quarterfinals.

Thiem broke the 32-year-old Murray in the first game of the match, but the British player made things more difficult in the second set, testing his younger opponent's nerve in finishing out the match.

Also, Karen Khachanov of Russia beat Italy's Fabio Fognini 3-6, 6-3, 6-1, Alexander Zverev downed Sam Querrey, 7 (7)-6 (3), 6-2, and Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece beat American John Isner, 7 (7)-6 (3), 6-3.

Top-seeded Ash Barty reached the semifinals in the women's draw by beating Petra Kvitova 46, 6-4, 6-3.

"From my opinion, that was one of the highest quality matches I played all year," said Barty, the French Open champion. "Petra always has a way of bringing out the best in me, she really does."

Barty converted three of her six break points while Kvitova, a two-time Wimbledon champion, was two for seven.

In Saturday's semifinals, Barty will face eighth-seeded Kiki Bertens, who defeated Elina Svitolina 7-6 (6), 6-2.

"I think this week I played some better tennis again," said Bertens, who amassed 36 winners to Svitolina's 16. "I think then with some pressure and playing better all the time, it's good for me. It says for myself that I was growing a lot over the last few years."

Also, defending champion Caroline Wozniacki beat Daria Kasatkina 6-3, 7-6 (5) and will next face Naomi Osaka, the twotime Grand Slam champion from Japan who served 10 aces to end Canadian U.S. Open champion Bianca Andreescu's winning streak at 17 with a 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 victory.

Novak Djokovic beats Pouille to reach Japan Open semifinals

Novak Djokovic is making quite a debut in Tokyo.

Competing in the Japanese capital for the first time, Djokovic beat fifth-seeded Lucas Pouille 61, 6-2 Friday to advance to the semifinals of the Japan Open.

Showing no lingering effects of a shoulder injury, Djokovic is attempting to win a title on his tournament debut for the 10th time. He has not dropped a set at Ariake Colosseum in Tokyo, and he has broken serve 12 times in three matches.

"It was definitely one of the best matches I’ve played this year,” Djokovic said. “Best one of this week (and it) came at the right time ... I served well, served many aces, returned a lot of his serves back and just used every opportunity to come in. Just overall, a really flawless performance."

Djokovic got off to a strong start, winning the first game with a powerful ace, one of five in the first set. He broke Pouille in the next game to take a 2-0 lead and went up 5-1 after another break before serving to win the first set in only 20 minutes.

The second set was more of the same with Djokovic breaking Pouille in the first game and taking a 4-0 lead before Pouille won his first game of the set.

Pouille showed a brief sign of life by breaking Djokovic to make it 4-2 but that was as close as he would get. Djokovic broke in the next game and then served out to win with a powerful forehand to the corner.

It was a dominant performance for the No. 1 player, who won 82% of first serve points and five of six break points.