Top seed Rafael Nadal takes on unseeded Lucas Pouille in the opening round of China Open 2017 in Beijing on Tuesday, October 3.

The world number one heads into the ATP Masters 500 tournament on the back of a title-winning run at the US Open. Nadal was also part of the inaugural Laver Cup, held in Prague last month. The 31-year-old teamed up with his nemesis Roger Federer for Team Europe, which outclassed Team World in the mixed team tournament.

Having already clinched a spot in the ATP World Tour Finals, scheduled between November 12 and 19, Nadal will look to make the most of the tournaments in the lead-up to the season-ending tournament.

"Every tournament is important. Every time that I go to any event, my goal is to try to play my best and to try to go for everything, no?" Nadal said on Monday, October 2, as quoted by ATP's official website.

He added: "Of course, the spirit of improvement: every day when I wake up, going to court with the goal of doing something better than what I was doing. At the same time, as I said before, the motivation to keep having chances to do what I really like to do."

The Spaniard will be up against Pouille, who stunned him in the R16 round at last year's US Open. Nadal took a break after the shock loss to the Frenchman and focused on his recovery from a wrist injury.

Rafael Nadal
Nadal was in imperious form at the US Open last monthClive Brunskill/Getty Images

Contrasting 2017 seasons

The two players though have had contrasting journey since then. While Nadal has gone on to win the French Open and the US Open titles among others in 2017, Pouille, who rose to world number 15, has had a horrid time in the ongoing season.

The 23-year-old's form has taken a hit after he won the grass-court tournament in Stuttgart. Pouille has faced early exits in four of the last five tournaments he played, including the Wimbledon.

At US Open last month, Pouille was knocked out at the R16 round by Diego Sebastian Schwartzman.

However, Nadal though is not willing to take his opponent lightly and believes Pouille can come up with a stern fight on Tuesday.

"I have a very tough first round against Lucas. Let's see. Tomorrow is an important day for me. Is a tough start, a difficult one. Let's see. But I am focused on trying to be ready for tomorrow. I think I practised well," Nadal said.

When does the match start and how to watch it live

Nadal takes on Pouille in the first-round clash, which will start at 4 pm local time, 1.30 pm IST.

Global live streaming: Tennis TV

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