Nadal won the 75th title of his career
The number one seed defeated "Bad Boy" 6-2, 6-1 after 92 minutes to win the 2017 China Open.
Rafael Nadal remains unbeaten since returning to the top of the ATP rankings on August 21. Against his nemesis Nick Kyrgios, the "King of Clay" still showed the form that helped him win Roland Garros and the US Open this year. And thanks to the 500 points from the China Open throne, Nadal has surpassed Roger Federer by 2,360 points.
The Spaniard faced only four break points in the entire match, but he did not concede any of them. Meanwhile, Kyrgios failed to show the form that helped him eliminate Alexander Zverev in the semi-finals, making 35 errors against Nadal. The “Bad Boy” from Australia even made things difficult for himself, constantly exchanging words with the umpire.
The match was tense in the first four games, when both men struggled to serve. Kyrgios faced break points repeatedly in the long game. The 22-year-old only survived the first two rallies, before being broken in the sixth game. A drop shot into the net and two consecutive double faults cost him. From there, the match was all Nadal's. In the second set, the world number one almost bageled (6-0).
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For the first time in 12 years, Nadal has won the China Open. Photo: ATP. |
"In 2005, I won the title here. At that time, I didn't think that in 2017, I would still be playing tennis," Nadal said with the cup in hand.
This was Nadal’s sweet revenge on Kyrgios, after losing in the Cincinnati Masters quarterfinals. The “bad boy” once asserted that any player with a good serve could beat Nadal. The Beijing final proved otherwise, when Kyrgios had a game with five aces, but still lost to the “King of Clay”.
According to VNE
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