Rafael Nadal, 31, is not done yet this season as he went on to crush Nick Kyrgios at China Open. An Atp 500 event held in Beijing that has landed in Nadal's back pocket for the first time since 2005, the year of his previous and lone success here. It's a great return for the Spaniard who made his first official appearance since winning the third US Open title a month ago. Currently ranked first in the world, he seeks to cement his status as the year is closing to an end. On the other hand, Nick Kyrgios is still trying to put his grip on one of those eight spots that ensure a ticket for the Nitto ATP Finals in London.
With Djokovic, Murray, Wawrinka, and Nishikori out of the table, the margins are wide, and the 22-year-old Aussie might want to capitalize on this matter.
Rafael Nadal gave a sample of how a world No. 1 should look like
Rafael Nadal got past Grigor Dimitrov in the previous round at the end of a three sets encounter. At the other end, Nick Kyrgios stormed past the current world No. 4 Alexander Zverev in straight sets. It could have been a delightful encounter, but Kyrgios had one of those moments with him allowing all those negative vibes to take over. As a man who has seen a lot, Nadal didn't let himself be distracted and did the regular job arching towards another title, his 75th overall and the 19th in an ATP 500 event.
It's a sweet victory given the fact that he had to save two match points against Lucas Pouille during the first match in Beijing.
For Kyrgios, is just another missed opportunity as he failed to back yesterday's solid tennis with another compelling performance.
The opening set had its moment of tension right from the beginning.
Once that Nadal escaped from that early grip he went on to dominate the encounter letting Kyrgios dry out while arguing with the chair umpire. Nadal was as sharp as he can get saving all those four break point chances the Aussie got on his serve.
Nadal to gear up for Shanghai and a possible clash with Federer
Shanghai Rolex Masters is already on the roll.
The first round started today, but Nadal received a bye for the opening round. As the first seed, he will lead the upper half of the draw with his rival and second seed Roger Federer looming from the bottom half. They are on a high-speed collision for the final in what would be a great start of this last segment. Winning in Beijing Nadal has confirmed that his tennis is well adapted for the Asian hardcourt. Now, it would be interesting to see if Federer has his game on the same high note.
