World No. 2 Rafael Nadal impressed on his comeback to the ATP World Tour on Tuesday in Beijing, defeating Richard Gasquet 6-4, 6-0 in the first round of the China Open.
Playing his first singles match in nearly 13 weeks, the Spaniard showed few signs of rust, dismissing Gasquet in 78 minutes. Nadal has always enjoyed success against Gasquet and improved to a 13-0 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against the Frenchman. He capitalised on four of his seven break points and won 73 per cent of his first serve points.
The 28-year-old Nadal, who has been sidelined since a fourth-round exit to Nick Kyrgios at Wimbledon, was forced to miss the North American hard-court tournaments due to a right wrist injury. The left-hander claimed his 45th win of the season, highlighted by titles at Roland Garros (d. Djokovic), Madrid (d. Nishikori), Rio de Janeiro (d. Dolgopolov) and Doha (d. Monfils).
Nadal is playing at this ATP World Tour 500 tournament for the fourth time. He lifted the trophy on his 2005 debut (d. Coria) and finished runner-up toNovak Djokovic last year. He goes on to face qualifier Peter Gojowczyk, who withstood 17 aces to edge Ivo Karlovic 6-4, 2-6, 7-5.