The China Open may not have gone the way that Nick Kyrgios may have wanted, losing the final to a dominant Rafael Nadal in straight sets on Sunday, but he did produce one of the shots of the day against the Spaniard.

During the second game of the contest in Beijing, 22-year-old Kyrgios played an extravagant drop shot, forcing Nadal to scupper to the net, only to fail in reaching the ball.

Nadal was so impressed with the shot that beat him for pace, he was caught applauding the effort.

But, there was no stopping the 31-year-old Nadal, who claimed his sixth title of the 2017 season, seeing off Kyrgios 6-2, 6-1.

Kyrgios, ever temperamental, was infused at decisions made by the line judges in the opening set, and at one point, approached the umpire's chair.

The two players were all set for a tight contest, as Kyrgios fended off five break points in his opening service game, however, the set soon unraveled to go the way of Nadal, who claimed it 6-2.

In the following set, Nadal took control, and it took until 5-0 in the deciding set for Australian Kyrgios to finally get on the board in a one-sided match-up.

By contrast, Nadal has enjoyed a fine year, where he has rediscovered the form that won him so many titles earlier in his playing career.

He has added the China Open to his six titles in 2017, including two Grand Slams to his name.

Nadal won a record 10th Roland Garros French Open championship in early June, winning back his trophy, before claiming the US Open at Flushing Meadows back in September, where he beat Kevin Anderson to triumph at the tournament for a third time.

After getting his hands on the trophy in China, Nadal said: "I was playing very high intensity the whole match, changing the directions and not making many mistakes." 

Watch Nadal applauding Kyrgios' shot in the video below.

Meanwhile, Kyrgios was frustrated at his own inconsistent display in the final.

He said: "In the semi-final I played well, obviously beating Alex (Zverev), It's a typical type of week for me: beat a player well, then pretty much no-show."