Nadal saves match points in win over Pouille
World number one Rafael Nadal saved two match points as he came from a set down to beat France’s Lucas Pouille in the first round of the China Open.
Nadal, making his first appearance since last month’s US Open win, was 4-6 down in the second set tie-break before winning four consecutive points.
The Spaniard, 31, then converted his only break point of the match in the final set to win 4-6 7-6 (8-6) 7-5.
“I am very, very happy to be through,” said Nadal.
“He played well, I think, very aggressive. He’s serving well. For me it was a little bit difficult at the beginning, then I started to play better.
“But still, I didn’t have the control of the match for almost all the time.”
Nadal, who won his 16th Grand Slam title in New York three weeks ago, goes on to play Russia’s Karen Khachanov in the next round.
Elsewhere in Beijing, Australia’s Nick Kyrgios beat Georgia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-1 6-2, Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov beat Bosnia’s Damir Dzumhur 6-1 3-6 6-3 and Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro is also through after a 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 win against Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay.
American John Isner reached the second round with a 6-2 6-3 victory over Tunisia’s Malek Jaziri, while Czech Tomas Berdych beat American Jared Donaldson 6-3 0-6 6-2.
Raonic returns with a win
In Tokyo, Canada’s Milos Raonic made his return to action following a wrist problem with a 6-3 6-4 win over Serbia’s Viktor Troicki at the Japan Open.
“It was a good match for me in a lot of ways disciplined, competed well – considering the circumstances,” said Raonic, who missed the US Open during a seven-week lay-off.
“The injury developed over the past 10 years, the pain had been manageable. But I hit a breaking point and the pain was not tolerable.”