Nadal edges Blake, Serena ousted in Beijing

Rafael Nadal fended off a tough challenge from James Blake to advance to the quarter-finals of the China Open on Thursday, as Serena Williams was knocked out of the WTA/ATP event in a third set tiebreak.

Nadal, the top seed, and Blake thrilled the crowd on centre court at the Beijing Olympics tennis venue for nearly two-and-a-half hours before the Spanish World No 2 notched up the win, 7-5, 6-7 (4/7), 6-3.

The pair remained even throughout most of the first set until Nadal broke the 29-year-old American for a second time to go up 6-5 and then served out the set.

In the second, Nadal - who won Olympic gold on the same court last year - broke Blake at love to go up 3-2, but the relentless American refused to give up, fighting off a match point and clawing back to 5-5.

Nadal quickly broke him again to go up 6-5, but Blake, the World No 24, again showed his mettle, using nifty net play to break the 23-year-old Spaniard and force a tiebreak, which Blake won in spectacular fashion.

In the third, Blake missed a golden opportunity to break Nadal at 2-2, when he had the Spaniard at love-40, and he paid for it when he double-faulted to fall behind 5-3. Nadal then served out the match.

"It's an important win because James is always a very tough opponent," Nadal said. "He's a really good player. I think he has one of the best returns... very fast. James played unbelievable in the tiebreak."

"When I had the chance, I played aggressive.... Winning in three sets always gives you extra confidence," he added.

In the quarter-finals, Nadal - who won the China Open in 2005 - will face Russia's Marat Safin, a crowd favourite and 2004 champion here, who upset Chilean seventh seed Fernando Gonzalez in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4.

On the women's side, World No 2 Williams battled back several times but was unable to overcome Russian 13th seed Nadia Petrova, who fired 14 aces in a three-set victory, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7/5).

The loss means that the top three seeds - Dinara Safina, Serena and her sister Venus - have now been knocked out of the tournament before the quarter-finals.

The 28-year-old Williams looked lethargic in the first set, with her ground strokes sailing long and her serve broken twice to hand the 27-year-old Russian the early lead.

But the American bounced back in the second, putting a bit more pace on her shots and dictating play from the backcourt to gain a break late in the set and even the match.

In the deciding third set, Williams missed a golden opportunity to pull ahead at 4-4, blowing three break points on Petrova's serve. But she cranked up her serve to send it to a tiebreak.

After Petrova took an early 5-0 lead, Williams battled back one final time to 5-6 before the Russian closed it out.

"I don't feel like I ever got in high gear. I felt like she was controlling the whole match," Williams said.

"I ran into a girl today who has never played so good in her life.... I had some opportunities that I let slip through my fingers.

"I tried to do well tonight but it didn't work out so well," Williams said.

Despite the loss, Williams - an 11-time Grand Slam winner - will nevertheless take over the No 1 ranking from Safina when the new WTA list is issued on Monday.

In other third round matches on the women's side of the $6.6-million event, seventh seed Vera Zvonareva of Russia, Polish 12th seed Agnieszka Radwanska and 14th seed Marion Bartoli of France all advanced.

On the men's side, Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic needed three sets to defeat Polish qualifier Lukasz Kubot, who ousted defending champion Andy Roddick on Tuesday.