Nadal is wary of Isner at China Open
▶ Kvitova proves too hot even for in-form Wozniacki in Beijing
Rafael Nadal said he was braced for the “huge” serve of John Isner after the world No 1 made his way into the China Open quarter-finals yesterday.
The 16-time grand slam champion Nadal saw off the young Russian Karen Khachanov 6-3, 6-3 to set up a clash with Isner in Beijing.
The in-form American, seeded sixth, is renowned for his booming service game and the Spaniard Nadal expects to come under a barrage today.
Isner was impressive in blasting his way past Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer 6-0, 6-3.
“Tomorrow will be a tough one against Isner, he’s playing unbelievably well,” Nadal said. “I saw him today. He played so aggressive, having a lot of success, hitting a lot of winners, returning very well.
“Everybody knows that he serves huge and it is so difficult to break him.
“But if you add that he is playing very well now from the baseline, he is one of the toughest opponents you can meet.”
Nadal, 31, the top seed and coming off the back of a third US Open title, saved two match points against Frenchman Lucas Pouille in his opener in Beijing, but he was always in control against Khachanov, 21, breaking him in the fourth game of the first set on the way to a routine victory.
Andrey Rublev ensured a continued Russian presence in the men’s draw as he sprang a surprise in fighting back to oust seventh seed Tomas Berdych 1-6, 6-4, 6-1.
In the women’s draw, twotime Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova stormed through the first set against Caroline Wozniacki 6-1 and although the Dane was better in the second set, the Czech broke her for 6-4.
Next up for Kvitova will be compatriot Barbora Strycova in the quarters.
Another former world No 1, fourth seed Karolina Pliskova, became another high-profile casualty, going out to unseeded Sorana Cirstea, who follows fellow Romanian Simona Halep into the quarter-finals after the second seed sent Maria Sharapova packing on Wednesday.
Cirstea, ranked 4, stunned the Czech Pliskova 6-1, 7-5 to reach the last eight.
She will play Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, the Roland Garros champion, after China’s top player Peng Shuai retired with a knee injury at 3-0 down in the first set.
Peng, 31, said she had been having injections to ease the pain and her right knee was heavily strapped, but she could not play on.
“The doctor suggested I should take a period of rest and get it treated, but I can only rest after the season,” world No 25 Peng said.
World No 1 Garbine Muguruza and reigning champion Agnieszka Radwanska are both out, leaving world No 2 Halep as the favourite in the Chinese capital.
Also into the quarters is Caroline Garcia, who defeated French compatriot Alize Cornet 6-2, 6-1 and will play third seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine.
Elsewhere Milos Raonic picked up another injury yesterday and was forced to retire from his second-round match at the Japan Open.
The 2016 Wimbledon finalist lost the opening game against Yuichi Sugita and then decided to stop while trailing 1-0 because of a right-calf injury. He failed to appear at a news conference but later issued a statement via the ATP.
“I picked up a strain to the calf. It’s hard to know the extent of it, I’ll have to wait because it’s too soon to have an exact evaluation,” Raonic said. “It happened when the score was deuce. I felt a sharp pain at the back of my leg. I will head home now and get medical attention.
“It’s been a difficult and frustrating year. I obviously wish I could have focused on tennis more rather than chasing help all the time.”
Sugita also won his opening match when his opponent retired. He will next face Adrian Mannarino in today’s quarter-finals.