Rafael Nadal

The world No 1 proved too strong for the Australian, who had won nine of his previous 11 matches, winning 6-2 6-1 to secure his second Beijing title after his first victory in 2005.

Nadal, a two-time Grand Slam champion this year, never appeared in danger of losing to Kyrgios despite the fiery Australian making an encouraging start to the encounter.

Nadal, 31, secured the opening set thanks to two breaks of serve before racing through the second set against an out of sorts Kyrgios who struggled to cope with the greater consistency from Nadal's racket.

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.

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.

Thiem, who secured a 6-4 6-3 victory to move through to the semi-finals, was able to exact some form of revenge on Nadal who had beaten the Austrian world no 7 in both the Madrid and Barcelona finals.

Nadal, 30, a former seven-time champion in the Italian capital, is hoping to secure his 10th French Open title when the second major of the year begins later this month.

However, it was the 23-year-old Thiem who raced into a 5-1 lead against the world no 4, only for Nadal to reduce the deficit to 5-4 with a break of serve before Thiem closed the first set out 6-4.

The Spaniard, 30, won 6-2 6-4 to claim his first victory over the Serb since the 2014 French Open final.

Nadal improved his record on clay this year to 14-0 and will face Austrian Dominic Thiem, who beat Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas 6-4 6-4, in Sunday's final.

Kristina Mladenovic plays Simona Halep in Saturday's women's final.

Nadal confirmed his return to form with a long-awaited win over Djokovic, his 24th in 50 career meetings.

The Spaniard had little trouble against his fellow countryman in defending the title he reclaimed last year after a three-year gap from his eight-year run of consecutive titles.

Ramos-Vinolas had already beaten world number one Andy Murray and Marin Cilic on route to his fourth career final but the world No 24 never looked close to a second singles title.

Instead it was Nadal who won a 50th title on clay taking him clear of Guillermo Vilas as the most successful man on the surface and the first man to ever win 10 titles at the same venue.

The Swiss great beat his Spanish rival for a third time this season and fourth in succession, needing just two breaks of serve and 94 minutes to claim his 91st career title and with it, a 26th Masters crown thanks to a 6-3 6-4 victory in Florida.

Federer also cements his place at number one in the year's race for ranking points and will rise to number four in the world after adding Miami to his titles at Indian Wells and the Australian Open already this season.

After an evenly contested start, Nadal moved through the gears to take the first set in just 31 minutes, before a tighter second almost went the distance. The Spaniard sealed a 50th career win in the Californian desert 6-3 7-5.

Nadal has 28 Masters 1000 titles to his name, as well as 14 Grand Slams but he is seeking a first title of 2017 and will have to do it the hard way with a host of huge names in his half of the draw.

The Spaniard, a 14-time Grand Slam champion, is a fan of the Bernabeu club despite his uncle Miguel Angel Nadal being a former Barcelona defender.

Florentino Perez is the current president at Real and, while Nadal admits such a career change may be unlikely once he decides to retire from tennis, he says he would love to take on the role.

Nadal told Marca: "If you ask me if I would like it, of course I would, why not? But there is more to it… I think it will not be.

Nadal was made to fight tooth and nail but showed glimpses of his best tennis, prevailing over 15th seed Dimitrov 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (4-7), 6-4 in just short of five hours.

The Spaniard, who had an injury-ravaged 2016, needed three match points to see off a resilient Dimitrov and win through to Sunday evening's final against Federer.

"To qualify for the final in a match like this means a lot to me," Nadal said in a courtside interview.