The draw was performed today in Beijing. World No. 1 Rafael Nadal has been drawn to face Lucas Pouille in the first round of the China Open. He could face big-serving John Isner in the quarterfinals.
Our champ is 56-9 on the year, and is chasing his 75th tour-level title.
Rafa’s potential route to the final:
- 1st round: Lucas Pouille
- 2nd round: Karen Kachanov
- Quarter-final: John Isner
- Semi-final: Grigor Dimitrov
- Final: Alexander Zverev
Projected quarterfinals:
- Rafael Nadal vs John Isner
- Grigor Dimitrov vs Roberto Bautista Agut
- Nick Kyrgios vs Pablo Carreno Busta
- Tomas Berdych vs Alexander Zverev
Rafa won this hard-court tournament, part of the ATP Tour’s late-season Asian swing, as a teenager in 2005 and reached the final in 2013 and 2015.
GOOD LUCK & VAMOS RAFA!
Good luck in China. Hope you’re making the right decision to play. Hate to see you get injured. You alone know your limits and should listen to your body. God be with you and keep you safe. Win or lose love to see you play.😘😘
I also agree, heisnow playing too much! and form he looks ridiculous in the shone jacket..stick to you stylr.But I do wish you good luck, you are going to need I!
Wow, Rafa is the player who keeps on giving. How do you top an already sensational season?
The rest now is gravy. Always love watching Rafa compete but just want him to stay healthy for 2018.
Wishing Rafa all the best for the Asian Swing. So glad he enjoyed some rest and relaxation at home after the Laver Cup
All the best, Rafa!
There’s never a reason to worry about a projected opponent. The draw changes immediately if the projected winner drops that match. Vamos and do your best, Rafa. What you have accomplished in the past year is mind boggling. Have fun playing and we’ll be there.
I share many of the concerns expressed below on Beijing. Rafa did get a tough draw, but maybe he can use this as a warm up for Shanghai. I did not think about Rafa ending the year as number one, but now that he is so close, it would be wonderful if he can achieve it. I really think he should focus on peaking for the WTF in London. Roger could still overtake Rafa in the rankings, but his long season seems to be catching up with him. As a Rafan, this has been such an incredible year! I am happy no matter what happens.
At this stage of his career:
– claiming the year end no. 1 is a ‘nice to have’ (especially since Federer having it would make ms journalist like Sue Barker slip off her chair of excitement)
– winning Paris is a ‘nice to have’
– winning the Wtf should shut up quite a few trolls
– winning the Aussie Open should be the biggest goal for 2018, followed by RG.
Getting the double career GS is what have an immense impact. It would leave msm journalists eating their keyboards.
I think Shanghai Paris and wtf Shud b his priority..and will be on cloud nine if he can win these 3…hope he doesn’t go deeper in Beijing and Basel.
But among of all of those wtf is the war to win rest are the battles leading to the war..u can lose battles and still win the war..Nadal Shud do some nice scheduling and save for oz open next..if he can win oz open..he will b the only person other than laver to win dem all twice
Rafa all the best for your decisions to play.
Love and prayers.
AlaineXXSydneyXXAustraliaXX
i actually would love to see him skip the entire asian swing… but if he chooses to play i can only say best of luck and vamos~~ a really tough draw. very difficult to win this title. only stay healthy and try your best Rafa~~ we believe in you… 🙂
I agree with those who say that Rafa would be better skipping Beijing. If he wishes to maintain his lead in the rankings he should not risk his health by playing too many tournaments.
Federer is so much wiser in how he manages his schedules and could easily overtake Rafa in the rankings if Rafa suffers exhaustion, or injury, or both.
Moya may have already advised him to skip this tournament but Rafa may have disagreed with him.
As always I support Rafa in whatever he does but sometimes I wish he would slow down a little. He is not a youngster any more .
Good luck Rafa .you can do it .vamossssssssssssssssss champ 🎾🎾🎾🎾👍👍👍👍🇺🇸❤️
Good luck and Vamos Rafa <3
its a tough draw for rafa starting with pouille who beat him at the us open last year. Pouille takes the ball very early and has powerful groundstrokes and hit the ball flatt
Personally i wish he wouldnt play this tournament of no value and skip it. But I am not in the position to tell rafa what tournaments he should play. I couldnt care less if he wins the tournament or not. However I realy think he should put the focuss on winning sjanghai, paris and wtf.
Its a great challenge for him but i feel like since his main obstacle for the indoor season is resting with the name of djokovic this is a once in a life time opportunity to run the score
Revenge on pouille😎
He is playing too much. I was hoping Moya would make Rafa ease up on his schedule. Surely he is not going to play Beijing, Basel, Shanghai then Paris and wtf. Thats way too much. Look at Fed. Rafa be smart, slams are your priorities. And health.
Vamos Rafa!!! 🙂
Good luck. As always take each game at a time. After the big win in Rod Laver cup. That was a great warm up for these fast hard courts.
However he lost to Isner at the Laver Cup and can potentially meet him again in this tournament. Wishing he had skipped this, but maybe he feels he can use it as practice and so not practice too much off court.