Rafael Nadal punched a ticket to the China Open quarterfinals by defeating Adrian Mannarino 6-1, 7-6(6) on Thursday night. Nadal needed one hour and 51 minutes to set up a Friday showdown against Grigor Dimitrov.
The world No. 4 took a third consecutive set this week by a 6-1 scoreline after previously issuing a double-breadstick of Paolo Lorenzi in the opening round. But Mannarino picked up the pace thereafter, breaking back to recover from a 3-1 deficit in the second set and eventually playing his way into a tiebreaker. The Frenchman fought off one match point at 5-6 in the ‘breaker, but the loss of a quick volley exchange on his 6-6 service point proved to make the final difference.
“I think I played a fantastic first set; great level of tennis, serving very good, hitting so good,” Nadal assessed. “During the second set, I slowed the rhythm a little bit and he played very well. I feel very happy that I won that tiebreak; I think I played with the right amount of determination in the tie-break. It’s very important for my confidence to pass through these tough moments.”
Dimitrov had more than a few tough moments against Lucas Pouille in their second-round collision in Beijing. In fact, Pouille even served for a straight-set win only to go down 6-7(3), 7-6(0), 6-4 after two hours and 25 minutes. Twice in the second set Dimitrov found himself two points from exiting, but he managed to recover and prevent what would have been a rematch of a fourth-round U.S. Open five-setter between Nadal and Pouille (won by Pouille 8-6 in the final-set tiebreaker).
“I just believed today,” Dimitrov reflected, “especially in the second set when he was serving for the match. I felt I was playing good tennis. I just missed a few opportunities early on and throughout the second he was playing really good. All I could do was stay composed, try to hit every ball that I could, and use every opportunity. They came a bit late, but I’m pretty happy with it.”
Nadal, meanwhile, should be happy that this is shaping up to be a productive week for him in the race to Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. Both Nadal (in seventh) and Gael Monfils (in sixth, and currently in the Japan Open quarters) are extending their lead over eighth-place Dominic Thiem. Thiem lost in the Beijing opening round to Alexander Zverev and Berdych fell right away at the Japan Open to Gilles Muller. Nadal will be at least 85 points ahead of Thiem and 220 points clear of Berdych heading into Shanghai next week.
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Since when does adding 90 points “enhance” one’s standings in the Race.
Not significantly anyways.
No, the bigger enhancement was an injured Berdych losing early.