Rafael Nadal battles his way into China Open quarters

Spanish tennis maestro Rafael Nadal booked his place in the quarter-finals of the China Open tournament with a straight-sets victory over France's Adrian Mannarino in the men's singles event on Thursday.

The 14-time Grand Slam champion won the first set comfortably before overcoming a tight second set to register a 6-1, 7-6(6) win over Mannarino in a thrilling second-round contest that lasted one hour and 51 minutes.

Nadal will next lock horns with Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov for a place in the semi-finals. The second-seed leads their ATP head to head rivalry 7-0, with four of those matches have gone to a deciding set.