American Steve Johnson, buoyed with confidence following his career-best win over World No. 7 Dominic Thiem on Tuesday, was super consistent and solid on serve — winning 25 of his 27 first-service points — to beat last week’s Shenzhen Open finalist, Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-2, 6-4 on Thursday at the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships 2017.

Johnson, who is through to the Tokyo quarter-finals for the second time (also 2014, on his tournament debut), is now 28-17 on the season that includes his second ATP World Tour title at the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship (d. Bellucci). He will next play eighth-seeded Argentine Diego Schwartzman in the last eight at the Ariake Colosseum.

Later today, Canadian third seed and three-time finalist Milos Raonic, returning from a left wrist injury after a seven-week absence, takes on Japan’s Yuichi Sugita — enjoying a career-best season — and fourth-seeded Belgian David Goffin meets Australian qualifier Matthew Ebden. France’s Richard Gasquet, the 2007 finalist, also challenges Yen-Hsun Lu of Chinese Taipei.

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China Open – Beijing, China 

Dressed in traditional Chinese attire, Rafael Nadal, Alexander Zverev, Grigor Dimitrov and Juan Martin del Potro stopped by the iconic Beijing Bird’s Nest for a photo shoot ahead of the China Open Players’ Party. “Unbelievable place. The Olympic Stadium, unbelievable memories from there, from the ceremony, so very happy to be back out there,” said Nadal.

The group then headed to the top of the Olympic Tower, where they joined other ATP World Tour and WTA stars at a party to commemorate the start of the tournament. Dimitrov took home the award for ‘best dressed’, along with the WTA’s Petra Kvitova. The evening featured a traditional feature show and charity activity to raise money for the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation.

“I’ve never been to Beijing before,” said Kyrgios. “This is the first time for me, so I was really looking forward to this tournament and obviously this is a nice party.”

Michael Chang and his family attended the opening ceremony, held in the National Tennis Stadium, as the three-time China Open champion was named an International Tennis Hall of Fame global ambassador.

“I feel like it’s very fitting that we have this announcement actually here in Beijing,” Chang said. “I can recall playing here in Beijing in a much smaller venue. To see how tennis has grown tremendously over these years in and throughout China has been sensational.”

#NextGenATP’s Karen Khachanov commemorated China’s Mid-Autumn Festival on Wednesday, as he made mooncakes with a chef from a popular Beijing restaurant, Flo. The Russian also practised his Chinese and wished fans a Happy Moon Day.

Nadal helped raise money for the Rafael Nadal Academy and China Soong Ching Ling Foundation, as he teamed up with Chang and Chinese celebrities for a charity activity on Brad Drewett Court. Nadal and his team played points against a group of children in attendance, and then challenged Chinese football star Hao Haidong in a game of football and tennis.

Tomas Berdych assisted with the draw ceremony and also took time to meet up and take photos with fans. 

Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships 2017 – Tokyo, Japan

Players showed off their calligraphy skills during the official Welcome Reception at the Palais, in the Grand Nikko Tokyo Daiba hotel. Donning traditional kimonos, the likes of Marin Cilic, Milos Raonic, Kevin Anderson and Sam Querrey tried their hand at writing the Japanese character for ‘Samurai’ or ‘heart’. 

Cilic, Thiem, Raonic, Anderson, Querrey and Feliciano Lopez also delighted supporters when they trained in front of hundreds of spectators on Centre Court. The Tokyo tournament organisers have opened the doors to fans for ATP Sunday since 2007.

Dominic Thiem enjoyed a visit to a Tokyo sushi restaurant and the Odaiba-Ferris wheel. The Austrian dressed in traditional sushi chef uniform as he served and ate sushi, and then enjoyed the cityscape from the ferris wheel.

Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka assisted with the draw ceremony at Festival Plaza.

The more aces Nick Kyrgios hits, the more help Puerto Rico, which was devastated by Hurricane Maria, will receive.

The 22-year-old Aussie upped his planned giving to the U.S. territory on Wednesday, saying he would give $50 for every ace he hits through the remainder of the season. Kyrgios had said he would give $10 for every ace, joining WTA player Monica Puig, who is from Puerto Rico, in helping rebuild the island, which is home to 3.4 million people.

Kyrgios won again on Wednesday, hitting 11 aces to beat German Mischa Zverev 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 at the China Open in Beijing. The Aussie will meet Belgian Steve Darcis in the quarter-finals.

You know what? I’m upping my offer for @MonicaAce93 #DonateWithMonica to $50 per ace. Let’s help Puerto Rico ❤️??https://t.co/ydPq2wzUod

— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) October 4, 2017

Before mid-August, Grigor Dimitrov had lost all five of his FedEx ATP Head2Head match-ups with Juan Martin del Potro. The Bulgarian had never been able to solve the game of the big-hitting Argentine.

How things have changed. Dimitrov won his second consecutive match against del Potro on Wednesday at the China Open, coming through in a tight second-round affair 7-6(6), 7-5 to move into the quarter-finals in Beijing and boost his chances of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals.

“Very pleased that I was able to finish in straight sets. DelPo is an absolutely unbelievable competitor… Every time we play it’s absolutely stunning. He’s a great guy. I love practising with him. I love competing against him,” Dimitrov said.

The third seed was down a break in the second set and served at 2-5 to stay in the set. But Dimitrov ran off five consecutive games, including two breaks, to improve to 2-5 against del Potro in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series. The win adds 45 more points to Dimitrov’s Emirates ATP Race To London tally, giving him 3,185 points, 530 behind fourth-placed Dominic Thiem, who lost in Tokyo on Tuesday.

“I really needed that match… I just had to find a way today. I fought really hard, lowered my expectations, stayed positive,” Dimitrov said. “He’s the kind of competitor who can beat anybody… There’s not going to be any freebies against him. So I had to work, work and only work today. That was it. I didn’t think I played my best tennis but it feels awesome to win on days like that.”

See Who’s Pushing Dimitrov In The Emirates ATP Race To London

Dimitrov is seeking to make his debut at the season-ending tournament, to be held 12-19 November at The O2 in London. The right-hander will next face Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut, who was leading Aljaz Bedene 6-0, 4-0 when the Brit retired.