The leader in the Emirates ATP Race To London is playing an opponent who is attempting to salvage his dreams of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals in a blockbuster final at the China Open on Sunday in Beijing.

World No. 1 Rafael Nadal is pitted against No. 8 seed Nick Kyrgios in the fifth Fedex Head 2 Head meeting between the two (2-2) and the third of this season alone. Nadal won 6-3, 6-1 in May in the third round at the Mutua Madrid Open before Kyrgios won 6-2, 7-5 in the quarter-finals at Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati in August. This is their first meeting in a final.

Nadal is appearing in his fourth China Open final (1-2), having won his first and only championship in Beijing during his debut in 2005 (d. Coria). In both of the finals the Spaniard lost (2013, 2015), he fell to Novak Djokovic, who is out for the season due to injury.

The 31-year-old Spaniard is appearing in an ATP World Tour-best ninth final of the season (5-3) and the 110th in his career (74-35). The last time he won at least six titles in a season was in 2013, with 10, and winning his sixth of 2017 on Sunday would push him ahead of Roger Federer and Alexander Zverev, with whom he currently is tied at five titles, which leads the tour. 

Nadal has saved 22 of 25 break points (88%) en route to the final, holding 47 of 50 service games (94%). He comes in on an 11-match winning streak and is trying to become the 12th champion on the ATP World Tour this season to capture a trophy after saving match point(s). He saved two match points in his first-round win over Lucas Pouille. The last time Nadal went on to win an ATP World Tour title after saving match point(s) was three years ago in Rio de Janeiro, where he saved two in a semi-final win against Pablo Andujar.

“I am very pleased the way that I have been playing the whole week, after saving a very tough first day,” Nadal said after his three-set semi-final win over Grigor Dimitrov. “Another chance tomorrow to compete in a big match. That’s important for me. That’s why we practice every day and we try to improve every morning.”

Kyrgios is appearing in his second final of the season, and his first since the Western & Southern Open (l. to Dimitrov). A victory over the Spaniard would give the Australian his fourth ATP World Tour title, with his last title coming one year ago in Tokyo (d. Goffin).

The 22-year-old Aussie leads the tournament in service games won, being broken only once (97%) and return games won, converting 14 of 21 (67%) break points over the course of the week.

But while this is the first time that Kyrgios is facing a Top 10 opponent in an ATP World Tour final, he has enjoyed plenty of success in big matches. Kyrgios is 14-20 lifetime against Top 10 competition (4-3 this year), including 8-8 vs. Top 5 foes.

The only previous time Kyrgios has faced a World No. 1, he came out with a victory, beating Nadal in the fourth round at Wimbledon in 2014 when he was still ranked No. 144.

Today, Kyrgios has moved to No. 15 in the Emirates ATP Race to London and he will go to No. 14 if he wins the title. The big-match man could take another big step toward qualifying for London’s Nitto ATP Finals for the first time if he could get past Nadal.

Roger Federer returns to the ATP World Tour this week at the Shanghai Rolex Masters. But before play gets underway in the ATP Masters 1000 event, he entertained fans in a more light-hearted way on Saturday.

Federer got into a dance-off with none other than Mickey Mouse himself on centre court at QiZhong Stadium, showing that he can do more dancing than simply running around a backhand to hit a forehand.

The Swiss will resume his pursuit of a record-tying sixth year-end Emirates ATP Rankings No. 1 spot when he plays the winner of Rakuten Japan Open semi-finalist Diego Schwartzman and a qualifier in the second round. 

A big week in Shanghai will go a long way for the Swiss. But Federer faces a tough path in his quest to track down Rafael Nadal in the Emirates ATP Race To London, currently trailing by 2,160 points entering Sunday. Critical points are up for grabs at the penultimate ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event of the year.

The second seed finds himself in the same half of the draw as Alexander Zverev, who became the third player to punch his ticket to the Nitto ATP Finals with a quarter-final run at the China Open. Should they meet in the Shanghai semis, it would be a rematch of the Coupe Rogers final in Montreal, where Zverev clinched his second Masters 1000 crown of the season.

A potential quarter-final clash against 2016 Shanghai runner-up Roberto Bautista Agut looms, while David Goffin, who carries an eight-match win streak into Sunday’s Tokyo final, is also in Federer’s quarter of the draw.

Zverev, meanwhile, will potentially need to fight past 2013 finalist Juan Martin del Potro and fifth seed Dominic Thiem to set a meeting with Federer in the last four. Thiem is fourth in the Emirates ATP Race To London, with 3,715 points.

In the other half of the draw, top seed Rafael Nadal leads the pack. His best result in Shanghai was a runner-up finish to Nikolay Davydenko in 2009. Pablo Cuevas or #NextGenATP Jared Donaldson awaits the Spaniard in his opener, with a potential rematch against sixth seed Grigor Dimitrov in the cards in the quarter-finals. Nadal defeated Dimitrov in Saturday’s Beijing semis.

Nadal owns a record-tying 30 titles (w/Djokovic) at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 level and will look to add to victories in Monte-Carlo and Madrid this year. His last hard-court Masters 1000 triumph came in Cincinnati in 2013.

If he is to add another title to his list of accolades, Nadal will have to get through a difficult half of the draw, with the second quarter full of players attempting to strengthen their bids in the Emirates ATP Race To London.

Marin Cilic is the highest seed in the section at No. 4, but seventh-seeded Pablo Carreno Busta, US Open finalist Kevin Anderson and Nick Kyrgios, who is playing Nadal in Sunday’s Beijing final, are all lurking.

Carreno Busta, who is currently eighth in the Race, Anderson (No.12) and Kyrgios (No. 15) are all seeking their first London berths.

Perhaps the most intriguing match of the opening round pits Anderson against Adrian Mannarino, who defeated Cilic Saturday to advance to the Tokyo final. Other matches to keep an eye on are Kyrgios against American Steve Johnson and  Fabio Fognino against Fernando Verdasco.

David Goffin reached his second successive final at the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships 2017 on Saturday, a result which moved the Belgian into the final automatic qualification spot for next month’s Nitto ATP Finals.

Goffin moved up one spot past American Sam Querrey (2,435) to No. 10 in the Emirates ATP Race To London — with 2,540 points — for a spot at the season finale, to be held at The O2 in London from 12-19 November. Goffin started the week at No. 13 in the year-to-date standings.

Fourth seed Goffin improved to 48-18 on the season with a 7-6(3), 7-6(6) victory over fellow baseliner, eighth-seeded Argentine Diego Schwartzman, in two hours and three minutes for a place in his fourth ATP World Tour final of the year. Goffin is on an eight-match winning streak, which includes his third trophy last week at the Shenzhen Open (d. Dolgopolov).

He will face top-seeded Croatian Marin Cilic, also vying for a berth in the English capital at No. 6 in the Emirates ATP Race To London, or Adrian Mannarino of France in the Tokyo final on Sunday. Last year, Goffin lost to Australia’s Nick Kyrgios in the championship match.

At the end of a high-quality first set won by Goffin, dominated by tactical guile and fine groundstroke winners, Schwartzman was left to rue snatching at a forehand destined for down the line and into space at 4-4, with his opponent serving at 0/30. Ultimately, three straight forehand errors by Schwartzman in the tie-break handed Goffin the set.

Goffin broke Schwartzman’s serve in the fifth game of the second set, then recovered from 15/40 in the next game to seize control of the pair’s fourth FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting. Schwartzman, a 5’6” in height and the possessor of a blistering forehand, continued to battle and was rewarded — in a run of three straight games — with a Goffin forehand error when the Belgian served for the match at 5-4, 15/40.

Goffin took a 4/2 advantage in the tie-break, but soon found himself at 4/5. He dug deep to respond and lead 6/5, but Schwartzman saved the match point and subsequently double-faulted. The match ended when Schwartzman hit a backhand long of the baseline. Goffin has an 8-1 match record at the ATP World Tour 500 tournament.

Schwartzman, 25, was appearing in his second ATP World Tour semi-final of the year. He reached the same stage at Istanbul in May (l. to Cilic) and has a 32-24 match record in 2017.

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