Rafael Nadal faces a difficult path to the China Open final in Beijing this week as the Spaniard returns to tour-level action for the first time since winning his third US Open earlier this month.
The 31-year-old Nadal opens against Frenchman Lucas Pouille, who outlasted the Spaniard the last time they played, during the fourth round of the 2016 US Open. From there, Nadal could face #NextGenATP Russian Karen Khachanov, No. 32 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. Sixth seed John Isner of the U.S. could await in the quarter-finals.
Third seed Grigor Dimitrov, wild card Juan Martin del Potro and fifth seed Roberto Bautista Agut are the favourites to face Nadal in the semi-finals. The Spaniard is going for his second China Open title, his first since 2005 when he beat Argentine Guillermo Coria.
Dimitrov opens against the red-hot Damir Dzumhur, who won his maiden ATP World Tour title in St. Petersburg and reached the semi-finals in Chengdu (l. to Dolgopolov) earlier this month. Del Potro faces Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay, and Bautista Agut will meet Chinese wild card Ze Zhang.
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Should Nadal make the final, he could face second seed Alexander Zverev in what would be a can't-miss title match. They have played three times in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, with Nadal taking their trio of tangles, including a five-setter at the Australian Open earlier this year in which Zverev led two sets to one.
The #NextGenATP German will try to bounce back from his quarter-final loss against Dzhumur in Shenzhen. Zverev is going for his sixth title of the season. He opens against Brit Kyle Edmund and could face seventh seed Tomas Berdych in the quarter-finals, with a semi-final match-up against eighth seed Nick Kyrgios or fourth seed Pablo Carreno Busta looming.