World No. 1 and top seed Rafael Nadal reached the China Open finals for the fourth time in his career via a hard-earned 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 triumph over third seed Grigor Dimitrov in Saturday’s semifinal. The win was Nadal’s 60th match victory of the season that carried him to the 110th final of his career.

"I'm very happy to be in the final again," said Nadal, per ATPWorldTour.com. Nadal won the China Open title in 2005 but lost to Novak Djokovic in the 2013 and 2015 finals. Nadal, who reached the 60-match win plateau in a single season for the ninth time, will go for his sixth crown in 2017 against Nick Kyrgios, who defeated Alexander Zverev, 6-3, 7-5, in the other semifinal pairing.

At the same time, Nadal will try to fortify his hold of the No. 1 ranking by winning his 75th career title. He currently leads Roger Federer by 2,160 points in the Emirates ATP Race To London rankings. Nadal withstood 31 winners from Dimitrov, improving his record against the Bulgarian to 9-1. Despite the loss, Dimitrov improved to fifth in the Emirates ATP Race To London, boosting his bid to make it to the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time in his career.

Kyrgios in contention for Nitto ATP Finals

Kyrgios displayed his top form as he defeated Zverev in straight sets, boosting his chances of making it to the Nitto ATP Finals. Currently, Kyrgios is in 15th place in the Emirates ATP Race To London but his ranking will improve once he beats Nadal for the China Open crown.

Kyrgios, who has a 2-2 mark against Nadal in their head-to-head showdown, will go for his fourth ATP title in his sixth ATP World Tour final.

Kyrgios tallied 25 winners, including 11 aces, while Zverev only had 11 winners. With the win, Kyrgios improved his record against the towering Zverev to 3-1. Zverev recently secured a spot in the Nitto ATP Finals via his quarterfinal win over Andrey Rublev.

The German now has 4,310 points in the Emirates ATP Race To London, solidifying his spot in the third position.

Goffin, Mannarino to clash for Japan Open crown

David Goffin reached his second straight final at the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships 2017 after beating eighth seed Diego Schwartzman in straight sets Saturday.

With the win, Goffin took over the No. 10 and last spot in the Nitto ATP Finals, overtaking American Sam Querrey in the rankings. Goffin now has 2,540 points while Querrey has 2,435. For the title, Goffin will play Adrian Mannarino, who stunned top seed Marin Cilic, 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-0, in two hours and 43 minutes. The win was Mannarino’s first over a Top 5 player in the rankings.
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