Nadal through to Quarter-finals at China Open; Tomas Berdych Out

Third seed Rafael Nadal put up a much improved performance and beat Vasek Pospisil in straight sets 7-6, 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals.

Unlike in his opening round encounter against Chinese wild card Wu Di during which Nadal was broken four times, he saved Pospisil's only break point but admitted it was hard.

"Very tough first set and the second (set) was close, happy to have the break at the right moment. His serve is huge, his first and second serve very good, so it was tough for me to have breaks. I think I played solid with my serve, so happy about that, and I played a good tie-break, so very happy to be in the quarter-finals again here in Beijing. Last year I lost in that round so it is good for me, good news to be at the same round as last year."

Next up for Nadal is American Jack Sock.

In other action,

Last week's Shenzhen Open winner Tomas Berdych is out after a 6-4, 6-4 defeat by Pablo Cuevas.

He is the third seeded player to fall in the first round in Beijing.

World number four David Ferrer fared better and dumped Lukas Rosol.

His next opponent is wild card entry from Taiwan Lu Yen-Hsun.

And Chinese pair Liang Chen/Wang Yafan are in the last eight in women's doubles.

Tomas Berdych beaten at China Open while Rafa Nadal reaches quarter-finals

Tomas Berdych crashed out in the first round of the China Open on Wednesday, losing to Pablo Cuevas 6-4 6-4 just two days after winning his first title of the year in the rain-delayed Shenzhen final.

The second-seeded Berdych won the Shenzhen Open last weekend and was targeting back-to-back titles in China, but will now have to wait at least another week to secure a spot in the eight-player field at the ATP Finals in London.

He's currently next in line for a berth, sitting in fifth place in the standings with a more then 300-point lead over his nearest competitor, Kei Nishikori.

Also in first-round action, huge-hitting Ivo Karlovic battled past Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 7-5 7-6 (7-1).

David Ferrer is in top-form after winning the Malaysian Open last weekend

Fourth seed David Ferrer, fresh from winning the Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur, continued his impressive return to form following his elbow problems this summer, with victory over Lukas Rosol 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals.

In the day's other games, Lu Yen-Hsun from Taiwan upset Viktor Troicki 6-4 7-5 while Jack Sock beat Andreas Haider-Maurer 6-3 6-1.

Rafa Nadal: Came through against talented Canadian Vasek Pospisil

Rafa Nadal secured a a last eight berth when he defeated Vasek Pospisil 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 in the late match and he will now take on the Canadian's doubles partner Jack Sock.

The Spaniard picked up his game considerably following his first-round match with the 230th-ranked Chinese wild card Wu Di, during which he was broken four times.

Against Pospisil, Nadal only faced one break point - and he saved it.

Britain's Dominic Inglot and Swedish partner Robert Lindstedt were beaten 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 10-7 in the doubles competition by second seeds Marcin Matkowski of Poland and Serbian Nenad Zimonjic.