World number two and Olympic champion Rafael Nadal showed few signs of vulnerability as he beat Russian Marat Safin in the quarterfinals at the 6.6 million U.S. dollars China Open here on Friday. Nadal, who won the Beijing Olympics gold medal in the same venue last year, was barely tested by the former world number one en route to the 6-3, 6-1 victory.

Rafael Nadal of Spain returns the ball during the men's singles second round match against James Blake of the U.S. at the China Open tennis tournament in Beijing, Oct. 8, 2009. Nadal won 2-1.

Nadal broke four times out of five opportunities in the one hour and 17 minutes match. The Spaniard in the semifinals shall take on world No. 15 Marin Cilic from Croatia, who earned a place in the last four after victory over Nikolay Davydenko of Russia 6-4, 6-4.

In other quarterfinals, world number four Novak Djokovic defeated fifth seed Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 1-6, 6-1.

Novak Djokovic of Serbia returns the ball during the men's singles quarterfinal match against Fernando Verdasco of Spain at the China Open tennis tournament in Beijing, Oct. 9, 2009. Djokovic won the match 2-1

Coming into the match on a four-match winning streak, the 22-year-old Djokovic had to overcome a worrying second set before wrapping up the match in one hour and 44 minutes. "I had ups and downs in today's match," said Djokovic. " Verdasco used these chances in the second set when he broke and he had control over the match. I had to save energy in the second set for the refreshing start of the third and I was fortunate enough to do so."

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