It was one of the more riveting matches of the year: a five-set thriller between Rafael Nadal and Lucas Pouille less than a month ago at the US Open. Ready for an encore?

The second-seeded Spaniard and sixth-seeded Frenchman are on a collision course for a quarter-final rematch at next week’s China Open. Nadal must go through Paolo Lorenzi, followed by either Albert Ramos-Vinolas or a qualifier for his potential shot at revenge. Pouille, who prevailed in a dramatic deciding tie-break, enters in top form after lifting his first ATP World Tour trophy at the Moselle Open in Metz. He opens against wild card Yen-Hsun Lu.

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The potential encounter could have significant implications in both players’ bids to qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. Nadal, the 2005 Beijing titlist (d. Coria), is 18-4 at the ATP World Tour 500 event and will be seeking to boost his standing in the Emirates ATP Race To London. The 30 year old, who is eyeing his first hard-court crown since 2014 Doha, is currently in eighth position, with Tomas Berdych, finalist at this week’s Shenzhen Open, nipping at his heels. Pouille, meanwhile, is in 13th position. The top eight players will appear at The O2 in London from 13-20 November.

Nadal also finished runner-up to Novak Djokovic in both 2013 & ’15 in Beijing and while the six-time champion Serbian withdrew with an elbow injury, the tournament features a strong field. Top seed Andy Murray, a semi-finalist in 2014, leads the charge. The Scot is seeking to add to his collection of titles on Chinese soil, having won at the Shanghai Rolex Masters in 2010 & ’11 and in Shenzhen in 2014. He opens against Italy’s Andreas Seppi, with Dominic Thiem, David Ferrer, Roberto Bautista Agut and #NextGen star Alexander Zverev also lurking in his half of the draw. Meeting for the fourth time this year, Thiem and Zverev are set for a blockbuster opening-round clash. The Austrian is seventh in the Emirates ATP Race To London.

Another enticing first-round match-up features a surging Florian Mayer looking to topple third seed Milos Raonic. The Canadian is in search of his second Asian Swing crown, having lifted the trophy in Bangkok in 2013. Also a finalist in Tokyo from 2012-14, Raonic is making his second appearance in Beijing and could face Nadal or Pouille in the semis.

The lone home hope in the draw is wild card Zhang Ze, who will open against American Jack Sock.

Tomas Berdych took a significant step in his quest to qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals for a seventh consecutive year, downing Thomaz Bellucci 6-2, 7-5 in the Shenzhen Open semi-finals. He will face off against Richard Gasquet for the title.

Defending champion Berdych needed one hour and 22 minutes to dispatch his Brazilian opponent, securing his place in the Shenzhen final once again. He fired nine aces and claimed an impressive 88 per cent first serve points, while converting four of 10 break chances.

“It’s always a pleasure to play in front of a full stadium here,” said Berdych. “Today it was a great atmosphere and a great time to be on the court. I like the courts and the conditions and once you get a good result, it’s a place you want to come back to.”

“I was struggling physically the past few weeks, so it’s nice to be playing some matches and tomorrow I will have a chance to go for the title. Things are going well.”

Berdych, who claimed the inaugural edition of the ATP World Tour 250 event last year (d. Garcia-Lopez), currently resides at No. 9 in the Emirates ATP Race To London. The Czech is less than 500 points behind Rafael Nadal for the coveted eighth and final spot. A title would move him to just 330 points back.

Bellucci, who was appearing in his first ATP World Tour semi-final on hard courts in four years, would not go down quietly with his back against the wall on Saturday. With Berdych serving for the match at 5-3 in the second set, the Brazilian broke to love and drew level a game later. But the Czech would claim a break to love of his own in the 12th game, sealing the victory on his first match point.

Berdych extends his FedEx ATP Head2Head edge over Bellucci to 4-1, advancing to his 30th tour-level final and first of the year. His most recent title match had come on the indoor hard courts of Stockholm (d. Sock) nearly one year ago. Deadlocked at seven wins apiece in their rivalry, he faces a familiar opponent in Gasquet on Sunday. The Czech took their lone encounter of 2016, at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Miami.

Albert Ramos-Vinolas backed up his victory over top seed Dominic Thiem by advancing to his first ATP World Tour hard-court final at the Chengdu Open on Saturday.

The fifth-seeded Spaniard ousted third seed Grigor Dimitrov 7-6(6), 1-6, 7-6(3) in a titanic tussle lasting just under three hours. He will now face #NextGen star Karen Khachanov in the final.

Ramos-Vinolas is currently at a career-high No. 31 in the Emirates ATP Rankings and poised to crack the Top 30 after reaching his third ATP World Tour final. After finishing runner-up in the Casablanca final four years ago (l. to Andujar), Ramos-Vinolas lifted his first trophy earlier this year on clay in Bastad, defeating Fernando Verdasco.

“The match was tough, it was almost three hours,” said Ramos-Vinolas. “I’m very happy because I beat a great player. He will be one of the best in a few years. It is another final for me tomorrow and I cannot be more happy. I was a little tired after the first set so I maybe needed some time to recover and I did a little bit (in the second). I think the third set was physically very, very tough. I kept on fighting and that’s why I am very happy because it was very difficult to win.” 

Now with a career-best 30 match wins in 2016 (30-25), the 28-year-old Ramos Vinolas is set to finish in the Top 50 for the first time.

It was a rollercoaster of a ride for Ramos-Vinolas against Dimitrov, whom he had lost to in their two previous contests. The left-hander saved three set points as he rallied from 3-6 down in the first-set tie-break to clinch the opener. Dimitrov took charge of the second set, breaking three times and losing just one point on serve as he levelled the match.

However, after saving five break points in the second game of the decider to halt Dimitrov’s run of games, Ramos-Vinolas immediately broke in the following game and opened up a 3-1 lead. Dimitrov fought back as Ramos-Vinolas served for the match, breaking in the 10th game and forcing a tie-break, but the Spaniard dominated and converted his third match point.

Dimitrov is on the cusp of returning to the Top 20 after falling to No. 40 in the Emirates ATP Rankings on 18 July, his lowest position in more than three years. Since joining forces with Dani Vallverdu over the summer, the Bulgarian has enjoyed a resurgence in form, highlighted by reaching the semi-finals in Cincinnati (l. to Cilic).

Aussie #NextGen star Nick Kyrgios made the most of his time at the Chengdu Open by visiting one of its main attractions on Saturday – the Cube Oceanarium.

Located just five minutes from the Sichuan International Tennis Centre, at The Seaside City Shopping Mall, the Cube Oceanarium is the largest ocean viewing window in the world. It houses over 33,000 ocean creatures across seven themed zones, including one exclusive to jellyfish, which showcase the biggest jellyfish in the world.

“I saw some sharks and stingrays and some jellyfish – those are probably the coolest things around,” said Kyrgios. “I spent some time filming some iguanas as well. I like going to aquariums. I’ve been to one in Paris as well but this is nicer. It’s good for me to get out of my hotel room and do stuff like this because it’s important to have a good balance.”

Despite falling to Kevin Anderson in his Chengdu opener, Kyrgios is in prime position to make a late-season run up the Emirates ATP Rankings. The World No. 15 will next appear at the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships 2016, where he is seeded sixth.

Richard Gasquet is through to his second ATP World Tour final of the season at the Shenzhen Open. The Frenchman was leading 6-2, 4-1 when Janko Tipsarevic was forced to retire from their semi-final clash with a groin injury.

“Tennis is a tough sport,” said Gasquet. “It’s difficult to have no injuries, especially at this time on the year. Our matches are very tough, physically everyone is getting better and better. The game is more and more demanding. He’s had injuries in the past, same as me, and I hope he will recover well.”

Competing in his 26^th ATP World Tour final, Gasquet will look to win his 14^th title when he faces either Tomas Berdych or Thomaz Bellucci. The right-hander lifted his 13^th trophy in February in Montpellier (d. Mathieu), making him one of four Frenchmen to win an ATP World Tour title this season.

After reaching the Roland Garros quarter-finals for the first time (l. to Murray), Gasquet endured a frustrating summer, missing the Rogers Cup due to an abdominal injury, falling second round in Cincinnati (l. to Anderson) and suffering his first first-round loss at a major since 2010 when he was beaten by Kyle Edmund at the US Open.

The 32-year-old Tipsarevic was appearing in his first ATP World Tour semi-final since winning the 2013 Chennai title, after missing much of the past three years due to foot and knee injuries. The Serbian, a former World No. 8 who has clawed his way back up to No. 224 in the Emirates ATP Rankings after falling to No. 1027 two years ago, was trying to reach his 12th ATP World Tour final (4-7).

“It’s my right groin, which I’ve struggled with a few times in my career,” explained Tipsarevic. “It happened at the beginning of the match and as the match went on, I just felt really, really uncomfortable in moving and running. I was playing my toughest opponent yet (this week) and the only way for me to beat Richard is to engage in these tough rallies from the baseline where both of us had to run. I just wasn’t able to do that today. I hope it’s nothing serious.”

A third #NextGen star could be in line to win his first ATP World Tour title in 2016 after Karen Khachanov reached the Chengdu Open final with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over sixth seed Viktor Troicki on Saturday.

Nick Kyrgios (Marseille, Atlanta) and Alexander Zverev (St. Petersburg) are both #NextGen first-time ATP winners this season. Taylor Fritz (Memphis) and Borna Coric (Chennai and Marrakech) have also reached their first finals in what has been a breakout season for the Next Generation on the ATP World Tour.

The 20-year-old Khachanov has taken down three seeded players to reach the final of this ATP World Tour 250 tournament, also upsetting seventh seed Joao Sousa in the first round and fourth seed Feliciano Lopez in the quarter-finals.

“It feels great for me to be in the final,” Khachanov said. “Dreams are coming true, to be playing in my first ATP World Tour final tomorrow. Of course it gives me confidence. In the first round I also beat the seventh seed and yesterday I beat the fourth seed. It gave me confidence going into today’s semi-finals. I will just try to focus on my game and follow the plan I have with my coach. If it goes well, it goes well. If not, I’ll change it during the match. The mental aspect is one of the most important and that’s why you have to be focused.” 

The Russian maintained his rich vein of form as he broke Troicki three times from six opportunities and lost just seven points behind his first serve, claiming victory in 82 minutes.

In the final, Khachanov will face Albert Ramos-Vinolas, whom he has played twice before, with the Spaniard winning their most recent contest on clay in Istanbul this year. 

Fourth Seeds Reach Final

Fourth seeds Pablo Carreno Busta and Mariusz Fyrstenberg reached the Chengdu Open doubles final as they defeated Adil Shamasdin and Andreas Siljestrom 7-6(4), 6-3 in 75 minutes.

The Spanish/Polish duo will face Barclays ATP World Tour Finals contenders Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram in the final. Carreno Busta is chasing his second ATP World Tour doubles crown, after lifting the Quito trophy with Guillermo Duran in February, while Fyrstenberg is chasing his 19th title.

Kei Nishikori, a two-time champion in Tokyo, will face an experienced opponent in the first round of the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships 2016. The 2012 and 2014 winner will take on Nicolas Almagro, a Spaniard who reached No. 9 in the Emirates ATP Rankings in 2011 and beat Nishikori 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-3 in the Tokyo quarter-finals in 2013.

A deep run in Tokyo will help the Japanese star’s qualification bid for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, but first he will need to work his way through a difficult section of the draw. David Goffin and Kevin Anderson are possible quarter-final opponents, while a meeting with Marin Cilic, who topped Nishikori in the 2014 US Open final, could occur in the semis. Winning the Tokyo title for the third time will go a long way in ensuring a third straight year-end championship appearance for Nishikori.

Gael Monfils, who sits one spot behind Nishikori at No. 6 in the Emirates ATP Race To London, will kick off his Tokyo campaign against home favourite Yuichi Sugita while No. 3 seed Tomas Berdych will meet fellow big hitter Gilles Muller. #NextGen stars Nick Kyrgios and Taylor Fritz drew qualifiers for their first-round matches.

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