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By Chris Oddo | Tuesday October 6, 2015

 
Nadal Beijing 2015

Rafael Nadal was tested by Chinese wild card Di Wu but managed to steady himself down the stretch to come away with a straight-sets win.

Photo Source: Lintao Zhang/Getty

Rafael Nadal struggled to win games on serve on Tuesday in Beijing but the third-seeded Spaniard ramped up his game with aplomb to get past Chinese wild card Di Wu, 6-4, 6-4, at the China Open. Nadal’s victory sets up a second-round encounter with Vasek Pospisil of Canada and improves his all-time record to 15-3 at Beijing.

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Things got complicated relatively early for Nadal, and they stayed that way for much of the 86-minute encounter. After securing a break in the third game of the opener, Nadal was broken back immediately when the 24-year-old Chinese executed a nifty dropper and backed it up with a forehand volley winner.

Nadal would strike again in the seventh game, converting his second break point when a Wu forehand was sprayed off-target for a 4-3 lead.


The 29-year-old World No. 8 temporarily took control from there. He held at love to finish the first set and broke immediately at love in the first game of the second set, but Wu answered right back with a love break of his own to keep the Beijing crowd’s interest piqued.

The Chinese No. 2 continued to ruffle the feathers of Nadal, ripping a forehand down-the-line winner to set up triple-break point and then breaking for 3-1 two points later, much to the delight of the energized Beijing crowd.

The pair would trade breaks in the next two games before Nadal righted the ship to take the final four games.

In total the topsy-turvy tilt featured ten breaks of serve, but in the end Nadal got the hold he needed, closing the match with a serve out wide and a forehand down the line to force Wu’s final error of the day.


 

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