Nadal Pushed To The Limit

© Getty ImagesRafael Nadal prevailed after two hours and 23 minutes.

World No. 1 Rafael Nadal prevailed in a quarter-final thriller Thursday night at the BNP Paribas Open, fighting past unseeded Croatian Ivo Karlovic 5-7, 6-1, 7-6(7).

Karlovic drew first blood with brilliant play from the back court, breaking Nadal at love to go up 6-5. Nadal saved one set point in the next game after rifling a backhand down the line past Karlovic at the net. The Croatian staved a break point chance for Nadal, then closed it out on his second set point.

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The Spaniard blitzed Karlovic in the second set, racing out to a 5-0 lead, before Karlovic faced down two break points in the sixth game to avoid being bageled for just the second time in tour-level competition (2004 Indianapolis).

Neither player came close to earning a break point chance in the decisive set, sending the match to a tie-break. Nadal opened up a 5-2 lead, before Karlovic countered with three straight points, including his 23rd ace of the match. The Croatian saved match points at 6-5 and 7-6, but faltered on Nadal’s third opportunity as he sent a return wide.

“You lose a set against Karlovic, and you are under pressure the rest of the games of the match,” said Nadal. “I think I played a fantastic second set returning better than ever. In the third, I didn't have chances. His serve was unstoppable. In the tie-break I was really nervous.  I think I returned fantastic in the tie-break, but I didn't put one first serve on court, so I was really nervous.”

Two-time champion Nadal improved to a 30-4 match record at the year’s first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament, advancing to the semi-finals for a sixth successive visit.

“For sure, it is a very important victory for me. Being in semi-finals another time here after one month outside competition is fantastic new for me,” said Nadal, who had been sidelined with a left hamstring injury since the Australian Open.

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He will face former World No. 4 Juan Martin del Potro in the semi-finals after the Argentine moved safely through to the final four when Spaniard Tommy Robredo withdrew ahead of their Thursday afternoon match with a strained left adductor muscle.

“He's one of the best of the world, for sure,” Nadal said. “He's coming back after one year outside of competition almost. When you are in a difficult situation like he was last year and you come back and you start to win, you are stronger than before because you’re motivated and you want to recover the time that you lost for one year.”

The 32-year-old Karlovic was attempting to knock out a second Spanish Top 10 player after defeating World No. 6 David Ferrer in straight sets in the second round.

The former World No. 14, who missed six months of the 2010 season with an Achilles injury, is projected to climb 90 spots to around No. 150 in the South African Airways 2011 ATP Rankings following his performance in Indian Wells.

“Right now I'm a little bit disappointed because it was close; it was only about two points,” said Karlovic. “It could have also went the other way, my way, but it didn't. But all in all, it was good week for me, so I am happy.”