<p>Rafael Nadal said he was braced for the “huge” serve of John Isner after Spain’s world number one bulldozed his way into the China Open quarterfinals on Thursday.<br /><br />The 16-time Grand Slam champion Nadal saw off the young Russian Karen Khachanov 6-3, 6-3 to set up a last-eight clash with Isner in Beijing.<br /><br />Isner was impressive in blasting his way past Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer 6-0, 6-3.<br /><br />In the women’s draw, fourth seed Karolina Pliskova became the latest high-profile casualty on Beijing’s outdoor hard courts, going out in the third round to Sorana Cirstea 6-1, 7-5. Cirstea follows fellow Romanian Simona Halep into the quarterfinals after the second seed sent Maria Sharapova packing on Wednesday.<br /><br />Cirstea will play Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko after China’s top player Peng Shuai retired with a knee injury at 3-0 down in the first set.<br /><br />World number one Garbine Muguruza and reigning champion Agnieszka Radwanska are both out, leaving world number two Halep as the favourite in the Chinese capital.<br /><br />Also into the quarters are Caroline Garcia, who defeated French compatriot Alize Cornet 6-2, 6-1, and Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic.<br /><br />Raonic retires<br /><br />Canadian Milos Raonic’s injury woes continued on Thursday as he was forced to retire from his second-round match against local favourite Yuichi Sugita at the Japan Open in Tokyo.<br /><br />The highest-ranked player in the bottom half of the draw is Belgium’s David Goffin, who survivd a scare against Australian qualifier Matthew Ebden, losing the first set before coming through 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7/1).<br /><br />The Belgian will meet Frenchman Richard Gasquet in the quarterfinal after he eased through his encounter with Taipei’s Lu Yen-hsun 6-0, 7-6.<br /><br />American Steve Johnson followed up his surprise win over Austrian wunderkind Dominic Thiem with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Ukraine’s Aleksandr Dolgopolov.<br /><br /><br /></p>
<p>Rafael Nadal said he was braced for the “huge” serve of John Isner after Spain’s world number one bulldozed his way into the China Open quarterfinals on Thursday.<br /><br />The 16-time Grand Slam champion Nadal saw off the young Russian Karen Khachanov 6-3, 6-3 to set up a last-eight clash with Isner in Beijing.<br /><br />Isner was impressive in blasting his way past Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer 6-0, 6-3.<br /><br />In the women’s draw, fourth seed Karolina Pliskova became the latest high-profile casualty on Beijing’s outdoor hard courts, going out in the third round to Sorana Cirstea 6-1, 7-5. Cirstea follows fellow Romanian Simona Halep into the quarterfinals after the second seed sent Maria Sharapova packing on Wednesday.<br /><br />Cirstea will play Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko after China’s top player Peng Shuai retired with a knee injury at 3-0 down in the first set.<br /><br />World number one Garbine Muguruza and reigning champion Agnieszka Radwanska are both out, leaving world number two Halep as the favourite in the Chinese capital.<br /><br />Also into the quarters are Caroline Garcia, who defeated French compatriot Alize Cornet 6-2, 6-1, and Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic.<br /><br />Raonic retires<br /><br />Canadian Milos Raonic’s injury woes continued on Thursday as he was forced to retire from his second-round match against local favourite Yuichi Sugita at the Japan Open in Tokyo.<br /><br />The highest-ranked player in the bottom half of the draw is Belgium’s David Goffin, who survivd a scare against Australian qualifier Matthew Ebden, losing the first set before coming through 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7/1).<br /><br />The Belgian will meet Frenchman Richard Gasquet in the quarterfinal after he eased through his encounter with Taipei’s Lu Yen-hsun 6-0, 7-6.<br /><br />American Steve Johnson followed up his surprise win over Austrian wunderkind Dominic Thiem with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Ukraine’s Aleksandr Dolgopolov.<br /><br /><br /></p>