Nadal to face Djokovic in Beijing, Paire stuns Nishikori again

Rafael Nadal punched his ticket to the China Open final by getting the best of recent nemesis Fabio Fognini 7-5, 6-3 on Saturday. All three of Nadal’s career losses to Fognini have come this season–including most recently at the U.S. Open–but the Spaniard had all the answers this time around as he advanced after one hour and 45 minutes.

An inauspicious start saw the Spaniard get broken right away, but he hit right back to break easily for 1-1. Nadal ended up breaking Fognini three times in the opening set, including at 6-5 to clinch it.

The world No. 8 needed just one break in a more routine second frame of play, although he had to fight off one break point in order to consolidate it.

“He’s a great player, a great and talented player,” Nadal said of the Italian. “It was a tough first set, as I expected; tough match in general. But I think I played well. I played much closer to the baseline than the previous days. That’s very important for me; very important for my game. The position for me on the court today was more aggressive, and that’s why I was able to beat him today after a couple of defeats.

“I’m happy to be in the final obviously,” said Nadal. “It’s a good result for me, very positive one. And tomorrow is a match to enjoy.”

Highlights:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdDOecBc2jI]

But how much will he really enjoy it? On the other side of the net will be Novak Djokovic, who is an incredible 28-0 lifetime in Beijing after thrashing David Ferrer 6-2, 6-3 in the semifinals. Djokovic dropped serve twice but broke the Spaniard on a whopping six occasions.

“I thought I did exceptionally well on the return games, putting a lot of pressure on him from the first ball,” the world No. 1 assessed. “The first shot was a really quality shot from my side tonight, and that’s what I was looking for. To kind of impose the aggression from the first shot, not allowing him to get into the longer rallies and get into the play, so it worked very well.”

Speaking of working well, everything Benoit Paire touches right now seemingly turns to gold. Paire stunned Kei Nishikori for the second time in little more than a month when he took down the crowd favorite 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 during semifinal action at the Rakuten Japan Open on Saturday. Paire got blown out in the first set, dealt with a foot injury in the second, and had to save five break points at 3-3 to prevent from trailing by a set and a break. The Frenchman completed his improbable comeback with a break of his own at 5-4 in the second and additional breaks at 1-0 and 5-2 in the third.

“Kei was playing unbelievably well in the first set,” Paire reflected. “I couldn’t do anything, he made no mistakes. He wasn’t missing and hitting every ball on the line. The only thing I could do was stay focused and try to hold my serve. That’s what I did and I began to build my confidence. But then I think he began to feel to the pressure. In the third set, it was different. I was playing very well, aggressively and serving well.”

The world No. 32 also came back from the dead to upset Nishikori in round one of the U.S. Open. He fought off two match points in a fourth-set tiebreaker before winning in five.

Next up for Paire is his best friend on tour, Stan Wawrinka. The Swiss surged into Sunday’s title match by defeating Gilles Muller 6-4, 7-6(5).

Highlights:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBduRP5Wnas]

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