Rafael Nadal extends unbeaten run to reach China Open semi-finals
Rafael Nadal extended his winning run to 10 matches by beating John Isner in the quarter-finals of the China Open.
The US Open champion lost to Isner at the Laver Cup last month but looked very sharp, playing a brilliant second-set tie-break to win 6-4 7-6 (7/0).
In the last four Nadal will face Grigor Dimitrov, who battled his way to a 7-6 (7/5) 4-6 6-2 victory over Roberto Bautista Agut.
Nadal and Dimitrov played one of the matches of the season in the semi-finals of the Australian Open, which the Spaniard eventually won in five sets.
Nadal said on atpworldtour.com: "He is a player that I really like, a good friend on the tour. He's a great guy.
"I think Grigor is a player always with a great attitude, with a positive character. I'm happy for him that he's having a good year. Tomorrow will be a tough one, for sure."
The other semi-final in Beijing is also a mouth-watering affair, with second seed Alexander Zverev taking on Nick Kyrgios.
Zverev won the battle of the young guns 6-2 6-3 against Andrey Rublev while Kyrgios was leading Steve Darcis 6-3 3-0 when the Belgian retired with a neck problem.
Top seed Marin Cilic eased into the semi-finals of the Japan Open with a 6-2 6-0 victory over Ryan Harrison.
In the last four the Croatian will play France's Adrian Mannarino, a 6-2 6-4 winner over Yuichi Sugita, while David Goffin meets Diego Schwartzman.
Goffin, chasing his second consecutive title after winning in Shenzhen last week, saw off Richard Gasquet 7-5 6-2 and Schwartzman was a 6-0 7-5 winner over Steve Johnson.
