Nadal ‘destroys’ agitated Kyrgios to win China Open

Rafael Nadal won his sixth title of another remarkable year by beating an agitated Nick Kyrgios at the China Open yesterday, while unseeded Caroline Garcia stunned the new number one.The 16-time Grand Slam champion Nadal saw the Australian Kyrgios hit with a penalty point as the Spanish number one eased to a 6-2, 6-1 victory on the Beijing hard courts. Nadal, for whom this was a landmark 75th ATP crown, came to the Chinese capital on the back of winning his third US Open. The 31-year-old saved two match points in his nervy opener against Frenchman Lucas Pouille, but was never really in trouble as Kyrgios’s final hopes evaporated in acrimony.The 22-year-old Australian was upset with a call in the first game and appeared unable to let it go after that, earning a warning and then a penalty point.“I have lot of respect for Nick, he’s one of the players with more talent on the tour,” Nadal, considered one of the best players ever, said.Nadal added that he hopes the temperamental Kyrgios, ranked 19 in the world, will one day fulfil his potential. “The feeling is if he really wants to play and wants to work, he is one of the players that have more talent to achieve a lot of things in this sport,” said Nadal, who will go immediately on next to the Shanghai Masters.Kyrgios, who was going after a fourth career title, said he had been “destroyed” by Nadal.“I don’t know, I just got super frustrated,” he said.“I mean, I obviously didn’t react professionally. Obviously that’s why I got a warning.  But I mean, that didn’t really matter today. He played well, I played terrible. He’s in great form, he just destroyed me today.”Asked how his latest indiscretions might be viewed, Kyrgios replied with disdain: “I don’t really care. “Like, I mean, I lost a tennis match, man. Who cares? Why are we focusing on that? “Look at what happened in Vegas a couple days ago. Really, we’re going to talk about it?”Donaldson beats Cuevas to set up Nadal clash in ShanghaiAmerican Jared Donaldson beat Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay 6-7(7) 6-4 6-4 in the opening round of the Shanghai Masters yesterday to set up a first time clash with world number one Rafa Nadal. The 20-year-old hit 14 aces and saved all of his eight break points to beat 31-year-old Cuevas. Donaldson will be joined by France’s 15th-seeded Lucas Pouille, Gilles Simon and Italian Fabio Fognini in the second round.“You want to play against the best and see how your game stacks up. Playing against someone like Rafa is really special.“If I lose, it will allow me to know what was my game is lacking,” Donaldson said after the match.World number 45 Simon eliminated wild card Wu Yibing with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over the Chinese teenager and will take on Japan Open winner David Goffin of Belgium in the round of 32. Simon’s compatriot Pouille, who won the Stuttgart Open and Hungarian Open earlier this year, eased past Russian Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 6-2 and will face Fognini, who came back from a set down to beat Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.Miami Open semi-finalist Fognini will be looking to add to his Swiss Open triumph in July after losing the St. Petersburg final to Bosnian Damir Dzumhur last month. Ninth-seeded Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut, Argentinian Juan Martin del Potro, Briton Kyle Edmund and Russian teenager Andrey Rublev will play their first round matches today.