China Open

The unseeded French player, who won the Wuhan Open last week, edged the Romanian in a hard-fought battle, 6-4 7-6(3), in Beijing for an 11th straight match victory.

A stellar line-up in China in both the men's and women's events made for a memorable Saturday of action with Nadal against Dimitrov and Zverev against Kyrgios headlining the men's tournament.

World No 1 Nadal was first to book his place in Sunday's showpiece but needed more than two hours to register his 60th win of a memorable season that has also seen him claim two Masters titles and two more Grand Slam crowns.

Halep, currently ranked No 2, defeated the unseeded Daria Kasatkina 6-2 6-1 to close in on the top spot held by Garbine Muguruza.

Muguruza's world No 1 position is under threat after she bowed out of this tournament in the first round with a virus.

Halep beat Maria Sharapova in the previous round and, after winning her quarter-final, will play Jelena Ostapenko who beat her at the French Open earlier this year.

The Spanish world No 1, enjoying a late-career flourish, dispatched Russia's promising Karen Khachanov 6-3 6-3 on the outside hard court in Beijing.

Nadal, the top seed and coming off the back of a third US Open title, faces big-serving American John Isner in the last eight.

The 31-year-old Nadal broke Khachanov, ranked 42 in the world, in the fourth game and was never in serious trouble after that.

Khachanov, at age 21 a rising talent, simply had no reply to Nadal's explosive forehand and made too many routine errors.

Spain's Muguruza suggested in the build-up that she was not fully fit and lost the first set 6-1 to unseeded Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic.

Muguruza, the reigning Wimbledon champion, called a medical timeout at 2-0 down in the second set and then called it quits after having her pulse taken on the side of the court.

The 23-year-old said afterwards she had been too unwell even to practice for her opener but had been determined to play, having lost in the quarter-finals last week in Wuhan, where she struggled with a leg injury.

It was the five-time Grand Slam winner's first appearance since she was beaten by Latvian 16th seed in New York in early September and gets her stop-start return from a 15-month doping ban back on track.

Sharapova, ranked No 104 in the world, is a wildcard in Beijing and she produced a battling performance in Saturday's lively 7-6 (7-3), 5-7, 7-6 (9-7) triumph that lasted over three hours.