Beijing: Top-ranked Rafael Nadal moved into the semi-finals of the China Open by beating sixth-seeded John Isner 6-4, 7-6 on Friday.
The French Open and US Open champion has won five titles this season and is closing in on the year-end No. 1 ranking.
Nadal saved all three break points he faced against Isner. He will next play third-seeded Grigor Dimitrov, who defeated Roberto Bautista Agut 7-6, 4-6, 6-2.
Second-seeded Simona Halep moved into the women’s semi-finals and kept alive her chance of reaching the No. 1 ranking with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Daria Kasatkina.
Halep needs to reach to the final in Beijing, and not lose to third-seeded Elena Svitolina, to bump No. 1 Garbine Muguruza from the top spot.
Halep has never held the No. 1 ranking but has had a few missed opportunities, most notably when she lost in the French Open final to Jelena Ostapenko in June.
Her run in Beijing so far has also included a 6-2, 6-2 win over Maria Sharapova, which ended a seven-match losing streak to Russian, including a first-round upset at the US Open last month.
Halep’s quarter final victory over 34th-ranked Kasatkina avenged a straight-sets loss in their last outing at Wuhan last week.
In the semi-finals, she will play either ninth-seeded Ostapenko or Sorana Cirstea.
Elsewhere, Belgium’s David Goffin battled back from a seemingly impossible first-set position against Frenchman Richard Gasquet on Friday to reach the Japan Open semi-finals.
In a Franco-Belgian clash that served as a foretaste of next month’s Davis Cup final, Goffin found himself 5-3 down and facing three set points against the former world number seven before coming through 7-5, 6-2 in Tokyo.
Goffin now faces eighth seed Diego Schwartzman from Argentina, who put an end to the impressive run of world number 46 Steve Johnson.
The American had caused the biggest surprise of the tournament so far by beating Austrian star Dominic Thiem in the first round but he struggled on service against Schwartzman, facing 17 break points.
Next up was top seed Marin Cilic against American Ryan Harrison for a spot in the semi-finals.
Cilic’s path to the final was made considerably easier after third seed Milos Raonic was forced to withdraw on Thursday with a calf injury, the latest blip in what the Canadian described as a “difficult and frustrating year”.
The big-serving Croatian heads the Tokyo field this year at a tournament previously won by tennis greats such as Ken Rosewall, John McEnroe, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.