Rafael Nadal continues to impress in his return from a long layoff after advancing to the quarterfinal of the 2014 China Open on Thursday in Beijing.

Nadal, who is playing in his first tournament since his early exit at the 2014 Wimbledon in July, won against Peter Gojowczyk of Germany 6-3, 6-4 in their second-round match.

But while he is not being bothered by the wrist injury that forced him to take a two-month break, Nadal admitted after the match that is still struggling to regain his old confidence.

"It is normal after a period of time without competing, only having one match before, normal that you feel a little bit the nervous, the pressure in that moment, because you need matches to be in rhythm, to be confident in what you do in these moments," Nadal said via the tournament's official website.

Nadal, who will be playing in his first quarterfinal since the 2014 French Open in June, also complained about the ball that is being used in the Beijing tournament.

"The ball is so bad here," Nadal said via Sky Sports. "If you throw the ball on the floor, the bounce goes everywhere. Is not a question of winning or losing. I won in Rio (earlier this year) with this ball. I won tournaments with this ball."

Nadal said that the quality of the ball that they are using is very important because using different balls in tournaments could lead to serious injuries.

"It's just that we're competing at the top level of our sport, tennis, and the ball is an important thing," Nadal added. "This week we are playing with one ball. Next week we are playing with a different ball. That's dangerous for the shoulder, dangerous for the elbow."

The 14-time Grand Slam champion will face Martin Klizan in the quarterfinal. The 25-year-old Slovakia native had an easier route to the quarterfinal after his second-round opponent, Ernests Gulbis, retired in their match.

The winner of the Nadal-Klizan showdown will go up against either John Isner or Tomas Berdych in the semifinal. Top-seeded Novak Djokovic is scheduled to face Grigor Dimitrov, while Martin Cilic and Andy Murray will also collide for a spot in the semis.

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