Spain No. 1 Rafael Nadal has defeated error-prone Roger Federer 6-4, 6-2 in the quarterfinals of the BNP Paribas Open in the earliest meeting between the two rivals since they first played each other in 2004.
Nadal required mere 1 1/2 hours to shut out the defending champion in their 29th career meeting Thursday night and the first in a quarterfinal. Nadal faced just two break points on his serve in the match.
Nadal and Federer generally don't play each other until the semifinals and finals of tournaments, but the Indian Wells draw brought them against each other in their earliest meeting since their match in the third round at Miami.
Nadal got back to the ATP Tour a month ago, clinching two of three tournaments on clay after missing seven months because of a left knee injury. Federer tweaked his back earlier in the tournament.
Earlier, it was defending champion Roger Federer who rallied for a 6-3 6-7(4) 7-5 victory over Stanislas Wawrinka to set up a BNP Paribas quarter-final with Rafael Nadal who was a battling three-set winner over Ernests Gulbis.
Federer, a four-time champion at Indian Wells, was appearing for his first ATP Tour title since last August. The world No. 2 actually improved to 13-1 against Wawrinka, who was broken twice in the final set.
It could have been a simple passage through for Federer but he lost his serve to love when serving for the match at 5-4 in the second and lost the breaker thanks to a double fault.
Wawrinka then got a break of serve at the start of the third to lead 2-1 but he could not shake off his fellow Swiss and a string of forehand errors in the gathering dusk in California secured Federer the final, decisive break in the 12th game.
However, the Swiss ace could not carry on the legacy as he lost rather tamely to Rafael Nadal this time. Though Nadal won the match much convincingly, it was their bitter rivalry that came to the fore once again.
Nadal displayed all his famed battling qualities to edge past Gulbis earlier in match that stretched out over two and a half hours. After dropping the first set, Nadal began to find his stride but was matched blow for blow by the Latvian. The Spanish carried on the same form against Federer as well to emerge victorious.
So tight was the contest, Nadal won only two more points than Gulbis. But the former world No. 1 won the decisive points, notably when breaking in the 11th game of the third set which enabled him to wrap up a 4-6 6-4 7-5 victory at 9.47pm local time. The day session was expected to end at 7pm.
"To win matches in days like today are more important than ever for me, and I'm very happy about what I did on court," Nadal said. "I'm happy about the attitude. With all the problems, I was able to keep being focused and keep winning."
