China Open: Nick Kyrgios advances to semi-finals

Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios reached the semi-final stage of the China Open Friday after registering a comfortable 6-0, 3-0 victory over Belgium's Steve Darcis. After Kyrgios dominated proceedings in the first set, Darcis was forced to retire with a neck strain three games into the second set.

For Kyrgios, the impressive run at the Shanghai Masters is the perfect redemption story less than a year after his humiliating experience at the same ATP 500 event. Last October, Kyrgios was accused of "tanking" a match against Germany's Mischa Zverev, which led to the ATP slapping an eight-week ban on the Aussie. Though Kyrgios underwent a lot counselling, the 22-year-old continued to show signs of an emotionally-fragile athlete through most of 2017 -- especially at the Australian Open and French Open.

However, the Canberran has been on a good run in recent months. After taking his country to within a game of reaching the Davis Cup final, Kyrgios pushed Roger Federer to the limit at the inaugural Laver Cup before returning to China. The youngster is now primed to finish the season on a strong note and return to the top-15 in the ATP World Rankings. He is currently ranked No. 19 in the world.

China Open: Rafael Nadal also through to semis

Meanwhile, World No. 1 Rafael Nadal reached the semi-final courtesy a 6-4, 7-6 (7-0) victory over American John Isner. After beating the sixth-seeded Isner, Nadal revealed that he considered the China Open as one of his favourite tournaments in the packed ATP calendar.

“In general terms, I think I played with not many mistakes. I don’t remember a lot of mistakes. I went to the net very often. I think I did the things that I want to do, and I did it well, so very happy,” said Nadal, who earlier in the year won the French Open and US Open to cap off one of the best seasons of his career.

Nick Kyrgios will now face Alexander Zverev in Saturday's semi-final. Zverev, widely regarded as the next superstar of tennis, trails 2-1 against Kyrgios in career head-to-head meetings.