World No. 1 Rafael Nadal saved two match points to avoid a shock defeat in the first round of the China Open, seeing off Lucas Pouille in three sets yesterday.
<img title="Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates after defeating Lucas Pouille of France in men&rsquo;s singles match of the China Open yesterday. Pic/AFP" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/2017/oct/Nadal.jpg" alt="Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates after defeating Lucas Pouille of France in men&rsquo;s singles match of the China Open yesterday. Pic/AFP" /> Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates after defeating Lucas Pouille of France in men&rsquo;s singles match of the China Open yesterday. Pic/AFP
The Frenchman broke Nadal on the way to taking the first set 6-4 and the World No. 23 came within a whisker of sealing an upset when the second set went to a tie break. But Nadal, 31, with the Beijing crowd backing him on the outdoor hard court, held his nerve when twice staring defeat in the face and fought back to win the tie break 8-6.
The pair headed into a final-set shootout and again Pouille refused to buckle, Nadal getting the critical break of serve in the 11th game before serving for the set and match 7-5. Nadal, a 16-time Grand Slam champion, tumbled and lost a shoe at one point, and said afterwards he was fortunate to be in the second round, where he plays Russia's promising Karen Khachanov.
Aggressive Lucas "He played well, I think, very aggressive. He's serving well," said Nadal, who lost to Pouille the last time they met, at last year's US Open. "For me it was a little bit difficult at the beginning, then I started to play better. "But still, I didn't have the control of the match for almost all the time. "I am very, very happy to be through."
Sania-Peng advance Sania Mirza and her partner Shuai Peng defeated the Dutch-German pair of D Schuurs and E Mertens in the women's doubles second round. The third seeded India-Chinese combination survived some tough moments in the opening set to win 7-6, 6-2 against their unseeded opponents.

World No. 1 Rafael Nadal saved two match points to avoid a shock defeat in the first round of the China Open, seeing off Lucas Pouille in three sets yesterday

Rafael Nadal survives first round scare in Beijing

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World No. 1 Rafael Nadal saved two match points to avoid a shock defeat in the first round of the China Open, seeing off Lucas Pouille in three sets yesterday

Rafael Nadal survives first round scare in Beijing

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Rafael Nadal survives first round scare in Beijing

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