Fresh off his first ATP World Tour title at the St. Petersburg Open, Alexander Zverev arrived in Shenzhen on Tuesday following an overnight flight to Hong Kong. Zverev opens his Shenzhen Open campaign Wednesday against fellow NextGen rival Yoshihito Nishioka, who celebrated his 21st birthday Tuesday.

WEDNESDAY PREVIEW: Three days after the biggest win of his budding career, Alexander Zverev will play a tour-level match in China for the first time against fellow #NextGen player Yoshihito Nishioka. Zverev stunned US Open champion and World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka at St. Petersburg on Sunday, capturing his first ATP World Tour title by ending the Swiss’ 11-match win streak in finals. The 19-year-old German is the youngest ATP World Tour champion since Kei Nishikori at Delray Beach in February 2008 and the first teenager to win a title since Marin Cilic at New Haven in August 2008. Zverev is now No. 19 in the Emirates ATP Race To London and could become the youngest player to end a year in the Top 20 since Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray in 2006. 

Zverev vs. Nishioka is the final first-round match of the Shenzhen Open, with four second-rounders also on Wednesday’s schedule. Among the men seeking quarter-final spots is qualifier Mischa Zverev, Alexander’s 29-year-old brother. The elder Zverev defeated Zhicheng Zhu and Henri Laaksonen over the weekend to qualify for the eighth time on tour in 2016, tying him for the lead with Chengdu Open qualifier Radek Stepanek. Mischa Zverev, who hasn’t reached an ATP World Tour quarter-final since Valencia in 2015, meets No. 7 seed Fabio Fognini.

On Centre Court, No. 2 seed David Goffin meets Jaziri in a match with Emirates ATP Race To London implications. Goffin is 11th in the race for eight berths at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, but he needs to reach the Shenzhen semi-finals to gain any points this week. Jaziri, meanwhile, is enjoying his best season as a pro, earning a career-high 15 tour-level wins and three titles on the ATP Challenger Tour.

Following that match, Australian qualifier Andrew Whittington meets No. 3 seed Richard Gasquet. The 23-year-old Whittington made a memorable ATP World Tour debut on Monday, saving four match points against fellow qualifier Luca Vanni. In the final match of the day, No. 6 seed Benoit Paire takes on 224th-ranked Tipsarevic. After struggling with foot and knee injuries for much of the last three seasons, Tipsarevic hopes to end a stretch of 22 tour-level events since his last quarter-final at Bogota in 2013. The former World No. 8 has not won back-to-back matches since reaching the 2013 US Open fourth round. 

If Alexander Zverev finishes the 2016 season in the Top 20, he will join elite company. Five of the last 10 teens to end a year in the Top 20 have gone on to become World No. 1, while three others peaked at No. 2.

Alexander Zverev is setting his sights on ATP World Tour history after his recent breakthrough title.

The 19-year-old #NextGen star is trying to become the first teenager to finish the year in the Top 20 of the Emirates ATP Rankings since 2006. Zverev, currently ranked No. 24, would join an exclusive list of players if he were to accomplish the feat. Since 2000, World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, World No. 2 Andy Murray, former Top 10 player Richard Gasquet and former World No. 1’s Rafael Nadal, Lleyton Hewitt and Andy Roddick are the only players who have finished a year in the Top 20 as teenagers.

Zverev, who turned 19 in April, matched his career-best ranking of No. 24 with his first ATP World Tour title on Sunday. The Hamburg native beat top seed Stan Wawrinka at the St. Petersburg Open. Zverev had played in two previous finals, losing to Dominic Thiem at Nice and Florian Mayer at Halle.

The 6’6” right-hander, who is No. 19 in the Emirates ATP Race To London, is the fifth seed this week at the Shenzhen Open. He’ll look to improve on his 38-21 record when he faces fellow #NextGen star Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan on Wednesday. Zverev prevailed in their previous FedEx ATP Head2Head match-up, a 7-6(1), 6-3 win at Washington last season.

David Goffin learned to make traditional Chinese dishes during a private cooking lesson on Tuesday in Shenzhen. The Belgian joined chef Anthony Dong at Shang Palace restaurant at Shenzhen Shangri-La Hotel to whip up Tofu Soup and Peking Duck. 

“It was really special because I eat a lot of duck, but for me it was the first time that I cooked it,” said the World No. 14. “It was a really nice experience. The chef did it really well. You have to be very precise in how you have to cut the duck.

“It’s really nice when you come here to China, it’s nice to see how they make the duck and how they cook. It’s a different kitchen and it’s nice to see that.”

Goffin will make his Shenzhen debut against Malek Jaziri in the second round on Wednesday. It will be the first meeting between the pair.

“It’s the first time for me here in Shenzhen… I have a great feeling here in Shenzhen and I hope I can go really far in the draw. I hope I can play my best tennis here because it’s a great tournament.”

#NextGen star Karen Khachanov powered into the second round of the Chengdu Open on Tuesday as he ousted seventh seed Joao Sousa 7-6(3), 6-3.

The 20-year-old Russian advanced in 77 minutes, firing seven aces and converting two of his three break points. “It’s a very good match for me,” said Khachanov. “I’m very happy with my performance. I like the court, I like the crowd, so I was enjoying playing the match.”

Khachanov reached a career-high No. 81 in the Emirates ATP Rankings earlier this month after qualifying at the US Open and progressing to the second round (l. to Nishikori). The right-hander also reached his second ATP World Tour quarter-final in July in Kitzbuhel.

Khachanov goes on to face Adrian Mannarino, who battled past qualifier Denis Kudla 6-4, 6-7(2), 6-4 in two hours and 33 minutes.

Kevin Anderson set a second-round clash with No. 2 seed Nick Kyrgios as he dismissed another Australian, Jordan Thompson, 6-2, 6-4. The South African will face Kyrgios for the first time as he bids to reach his fifth ATP World Tour quarter-final of the season.

Meanwhile, third seed Grigor Dimitrov will open his Chengdu campaign against Dusan Lajovic after the Serbian rallied from a set down to beat Federico Delbonis 1-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Three matches were suspended because of rain: Marcos Baghdatis and Pablo Carreno Busta were tied at 5-5 in the third set; sixth seed Viktor Troicki was leading Norwegian wild card Casper Ruud 6-3, 3-2; and fifth seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas was ahead of German qualifier Michael Berrer 6-4, 5-7, 3-1.