Tennis: Nadal and Dimitrov to meet as Halep attempts to dislodge Muguruza

Rafael Nadal marches on to meet Grigor Dimitrov in the semi-final of the China Open after taking care of the big-serving Isner 6-4, 7-6 (0). Nadal saved the three break points, made a number of successful forays to the net, and played quite aggressively. He will now face Grigor who beat Bautista Agut 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-2.

Nadal and Dimitrov – Comrades yesterday competitors today

Nadal and Dimitrov spent some time as friends practicing and fishing in Mallorca, and now they will meet as contenders on opposite sides of the net. The lopsided H2H record of 8-1 in Nadal’s favor is a little misguiding as their matches have always been quite competitive.

In the other half, Nick Kyrgios disposed of an injured Steve Darcis 6-0, 3-0 to schedule a semifinal date with Alexander Zverev who beat Andrey Rublev 6-2, 6-3 and assured himself a berth in the season-ending tournament in London. The H2H between them is 2-1 in Kyrgios’ favor, and Nick seems to have found his way lately and may even knock Zverev off in what is slated to be a blockbuster semifinal match.

Will Halep be able to knock Muguruza off the number one spot?

On the women’s side, Simona Halep seems to be on her way to knocking off Garbine Muguruza from the number one spot as she moves into the semi-finals by avenging her defeat at Wuhan last week to Daria Kasatkina of Russia. Halep demolished Daria 6-2, 6-1, and now needs to reach the finals of the China Open to become the number one women’s tennis player in the World. Petra Kvitova also reached the semifinals by beating Barbara Strycova 6-3, 6-4, and it is nice to see Petra doing well again. Sorna Cirstea’s run was cut short by Jelena Ostapenko who won 6-4, 6-4.