Rafael Nadal sparked his China Open campaign into life as he stormed into the quarter-finals with a much-improved 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 victory over Canada's Vasek Pospisil on Wednesday. The 14-time Grand Slam winner had his service broken four times in the first round by China's 230th-ranked Wu Di, but he showed better signs against Pospisil, the world number 44.
Spain's Nadal, groping for form after a difficult year, will now face America's Jack Sock in the last eight as he looks for a confidence-boosting fourth title of the season. Nadal also avoided joining world number five Tomas Berdych on the sidelines after the Czech, who won the rain-delayed Shenzhen Open on Monday, became the latest big name to fall in Beijing.
"Every improvement is important," said Nadal. "Obviously I improved from yesterday. I played a much better match than yesterday." In their first career meeting, Nadal struggled to break down 25-year-old Pospisil in the opening set but he ran away with the tie-break to take the lead. Air pollution which had hovered at hazardous levels magically lifted by the end of eighth-ranked Nadal's match, and his spirits would have risen too as he aims to fight his way back to the top. "Every victory gives me opportunities to keep practising the things that I need to practice," said Nadal.