BEIJING — Rafael Nadal reached his first hard-court final in more than a year on Saturday, beating Fabio Fognini 7-5, 6-3 in the China Open semifinals.
The third-seeded Nadal's previous hard-court final was at the Sony Open in Miami in March 2014. The Spaniard last won a hard-court tournament two months before that in Doha, Qatar.
"For me, (to) be in the final is a great event. Very happy with that result," Nadal said. "The goal for me is try to find a good level at this end of the season."
Nadal and Fognini each dropped serve twice in the opening set before the Spaniard got the decisive break to capture the set with Fognini serving at 5-6.