Rafael Nadal wins his Beijing opener in straight sets over Santiago Giraldo on Tuesday. Nadal is joined in the second round by David Ferrer, who held off Vasek Pospisil in a third-set tiebreaker.
(2) Rafael Nadal d. (Q) Santiago Giraldo 6-2, 6-4
Nadal converted five of six break to beat Giraldo in one hour and 29 minutes during first-round action at the China Open on Tuesday afternoon. The second-ranked Spaniard took control with a break at 2-2 in the opening set and he broke again at 4-2 before serving it out. Nadal, still undefeated on hard courts in 2013, served at just 52 percent in the opener and had to save one break point along the way.
Giraldo’s chances all but ended when he was broken to begin the second. The 87th-ranked Colombian, who qualified to get into the main draw, fell behind 5-2 but continued to battle and broke out of just about nowhere to stay alive. Giraldo held for 4-5 only to see Nadal wrap up the proceedings with the match on his racket a second time. Next up for the No. 2 seed is Philipp Kohlschreiber, who survived Albert Montanes in a third-set tiebreaker on Monday.
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(3) David Ferrer d. Vasek Pospisil 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(2)
Pospisil lost in a final-set tiebreaker for the fourth time in his last five tournaments after going down to Ferrer in two hours and 10 minutes in Tuesday’s nightcap. The hard-luck Canadian fell in similar fashion in the Montreal semifinals, the Cincinnati second round, and the U.S. Open first round. Pospisil managed to force a decider this time around after playing from behind most of the way. The world No. 40 played his way into a third set by losing only six points in five second-set service games and he constantly served from behind throughout the third but held easily the entire way.
Ferrer appeared to be in especially serious trouble when he fell into a 2-0 hole in the ‘breaker. The fourth-ranked Spaniard, however, got the mini-break back for 1-2 when Pospisil missed a forehand and he came up with a brilliant drop-volley for 2-2. Ferrer ended the match on a streak of seven points in a row. He will go up against Marinko Matosevic for a place in the quarterfinals.
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