TENNIS:Nadal Survive with two match points,Thiem crashed out of Japan Open

World No.1 Rafael Nadal survived two match points to defeat Frenchman Lucas Pouille in his opening match at the China Open in Beijing while Dominic Thiem crashed out of the Japanese Open.

The Spaniard extended his winning run to eight straight victories after his recent win at the US Open, and was forced to show his fighting qualities to score a 4-6 7-6 (8-6) 7-5.

Pouille broke Nadal on the way to take the first set, and the No. 23 world came close to beating a sealing win a clash when the second set was to a tiebreak.

But Nadal, with the support of the Beijing crowd, was massively helped when the 23-year-old scored a single hit in his first match point, before the 16-time Grand Slam champion struggled to take him 8-6.

The duo headed for a final shot and Nadal broke the resistance of Pouille in game 11 before serving for the set and match in two hours and 31 minutes of captivating action.

"He played well, I think, very aggressive, he's serving well," said Nadal, who lost to Pouille the last time they met at last year's US Open. "For me it was a bit difficult at first, then I started to play better.

"But still, I did not have control of the game for most of the time. I'm very, very happy to have finished."

Nadal is chasing a first title in Beijing since 2005 while seeking to maintain his healthy lead over Roger Federer for the coveted end of the year place in the remaining tournaments in 2017 and the next faces Karen Khachanovafter the Russian star defeated Di Wu 6 -46-2.

Briton Kyle Edmund was defeated by second seed Alexander Zverev 6-3 7-6 (7/3).

The British number two was outscored in the first set, but put a good fight in the second and served to lead the match to a decider at 5-4.

However, he played a poor game and, after saving two game points to force a tie-break, fell to defeat.

Third seed Grigor Dimitrov beat Damir Dzumhur 6-1 3-6 6-3 while John Isner beat Malek Jaziri 6-2 6-3.

Australian Nick Kyrgios wasted little time by beating Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-1 6-2, serving 12 aces to close the match in less than an hour while Juan Martín Del Potro saw his compatriot Pablo Cuevas 7-6 (7- 4) 6-4.

In Tokyo, American Steve Johnson dropped the first set before claiming the biggest scalp of his career as he battled for a win over second-placed Dominic Thiem 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 in the first round of the Japan Open.

Milos Raonic from Canada looked sharp on his return from wrist surgery as Serbian hit Viktor Troicki 6-3 6-4.

The third seed, who was forced to stay out of the US Open due to a persistent problem with his left wrist, showed very few signs of rust after a seven-week absence, taking just 71 minutes to secure his place in the last 16 .

Raonic continues to play Yuichi Sugita, who took the first set 6-4 of Benoît Paire when the Frenchman retired with fatigue.

On the other hand, Richard Gasquet, a former Open finalist in Japan, lost Sam Querrey 6-4 and 7-6 after winning 7-2.

Jared Donaldson fought hard against seventh Tomas Berdych but ran out of steam in the decider when he fell 6-3 0-6 6-2. The Czech will face Andrey Rublev after the young man recovered to eliminate Jack Sock 3-6 6-1 6-2.