RAFAEL NADAL moved into the quarterfinals of the China Open with a 7-6 (3), 6-4 victory over Canada’s Vasek Pospisil on Wednesday.

    The third-seeded Spaniard picked up his game considerably following his first-round match with the 230th-ranked Chinese wildcard Wu Di, during which he was broken four times.

    Against Pospisil, Nadal only faced one break point — and he saved it.

    Earlier, Tomas Berdych and Caroline Wozniacki both lost their way in Beijing’s choking smog as they exited the haze-hit tournament with tough defeats.

    As air pollution hovered at “hazardous” levels and fans in face masks became commonplace, Berdych was sent packing just 24 hours after arriving from his victory in the rain-delayed Shenzhen Open final.

    The world No. 5 never hit his stride against Uruguay’s 37th-ranked Pablo Cuevas as he lost 4-6, 4-6 to become the rollercoaster tournament’s latest upset.

    “I made one tournament title. The other one didn’t go my way,” shrugged Czech Berdych, who won his 11th career title in Shenzhen on Monday.

    “It’s always a difficult part of the year,” he said. “We have to travel a lot. The conditions are always very different, very difficult, week by week here in China. It’s not easy to adjust.”

    Later, Wozniacki was brutally disposed of by a grimly determined Angelique Kerber 2-6, 3-6 as the Dane’s hopes of reaching the year-ending WTA Finals took a hit.

    Kerber’s German compatriot Andrea Petkovic was also bundled out by Italy’s Sara Errani 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, compounding a tough season which has included food poisoning, injury and a first-round defeat last week in Wuhan.

    “After Wuhan, I said to my coach, this is the worst season I’ve ever played. That was my assessment after Wuhan. But I guess I was quite emotional after losing in first round,” she said.

    It was a different story for Spaniard Garbine Muguruza, who retired from last week’s Wuhan final against Venus Williams with an ankle problem but bounced back to beat American Irina Falconi 6-2, 6-1.

    Fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska set up a quarterfinal with Kerber.

    (SD-Agencies)