In the men's draw, Andy Murray's injury-recovery journey here in Beijing ended with a 6-2, 7-6 (3) loss to the tournament's No. 1 seed Dominic Thiem.

After being thoroughly outplayed in a first set where Thiem was noticeably superior on return, Murray raised his level in the second set, breaking the Austrian late on to force a tiebreak.

However, that was as good as it got for the Briton, as Thiem raced into a 4-1 lead before closing out the tiebreak and sealing the win.

Despite his defeat, Murray noted that competing in the China Open had been an important step in his return to form and fitness after a long injury lay-off.

"I wasn't expecting to [start] winning tournaments straight away. Everything has been a pretty gradual progress for me. This week was another step in the right direction," Murray said.

Thiem will play Karen Khatchanov in the semifinal, after the Russian came from a set down to defeat Fabio Fognini of Italy 3-6, 6-3, 6-1.

Having looked slightly out of sorts in the first set, Khatchanov raised his level in the second and third, serving up six aces on his way to sealing victory in one hour and 48 minutes.

Next up on the Lotus Court, No. 3 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated John Isner 7-6 (3), 6-3.

It was a tight match in the opener, but the Greek player scored a crucial break early in the second set and held serve thereafter to see out the win in one hour and 15 minutes.

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