Nadal to take on Safin at quarters of China Open

Nadal to take on Safin at quarters of China Open

Top seed and 2005 champion Rafael Nadal survived a tricky encounter against unseeded American James Blake 7-5, 6-7(4), 6-3 in a heavyweight second round clash at the China Open ATP tournament on Thursday.
Coming up next for Nadal in the last eight will be wild card Marat Safin from Russia, a 6-3, 6-4 victor over seventh seed Chilean Fernando Gonzalez.

Rafael Nadal of Spain returns the ball during the men’s singles second round match against James Blake of the U.S. at the China Open tennis tournament in Beijing, Oct. 8, 2009. Nadal won 2-1. (Xinhua/Chen Jianli)
Nadal, who served for the match at 5-4 and 6-5 in the second set, managed to save eight of 11 break points he faced and won 65 percent of service points.
Blake, 29, who is making his debut in the tournament, restored his form and tried to stay calm to force a tiebreak in the second set. Leading at 6-1 in the tiebreak, the American converted on the third set point to level the match.
Both players played solid game in the third set, with the Spaniard grabbing the only break point and taking his chance.

James Blake of the U.S. reacts during the men’s singles second round match against Rafael Nadal of Spain at the China Open tennis tournament in Beijing, Oct. 8, 2009. Blake lost 1-2.(Xinhua/Luo Xiaoguang)
Safin, 29, who captured the title in Beijing in 2004, had a much easier time in his second round match, beating an out-of-sorts Gonzalez in only one hour and nine minutes.
The big-serving Safin won 88 percent on his first serve and registered 12 aces to his name compared to just one from the Chilean.

Marat Safin of Russia returns a shot agaisnt Fernando Gonzalez of Chile during the men’s singles second round match at the China Open tennis tournament in Beijing, Oct. 8, 2009. Safin won 2-0. (Xinhua/Chen Jianli)
Former world No. 3 Ivan Ljubicic from Croatia continued his quest for an eighth ATP world tour title, hitting 14 aces to beat Polish qualifier Lukasz Kubot 7-6(6), 4-6, 6-4 in two hours and 35minutes.
Ljubicic will next meet either sixth-seeded Swede Robin Soderling or Tommy Robredo of Spain in the last eight.
In WTA tournament, local player Zhang Shuai did not delight her home fans again, losing 6-1, 6-4 to Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli, 13th seeded in the elite tournament, in the third round.
Zhang, turning 21 years old and ranked only 226th in the world, recorded career first main draw win while defeating Iveta Benesovain the first round here and by beating Russia’s Dinara Safina in the second round, she became the lowest ranked player eve to defeat a world number one.