Indian Wells: Defending champion Rafael Nadal held his nerve to reach the last four at the Pacific Life Open by beating American James Blake 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 in the quarter-finals on Thursday.
The second-seeded Spaniard broke in the eighth game of the third set, when the American over-hit a forehand, before serving out to seal victory in a contest lasting just over two hours.
Nadal, who clinched the final point with an ace, dropped to his knees in jubilation.
The Spaniard came from 4-1 down to win a first set littered with unforced errors.
He clawed his way back to 5-5, took the 11th game with a probing forehand that clipped the line and came from 0-40 down to serve out for the set.
Although ninth-seeded Blake levelled the match after breaking the left-hander in the second game of the second set, his opponent regained control in the third.
World No. 2 Nadal, who beat Blake for the first time in four career meetings, next meets Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic after he beat Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka 7-6, 6-2 earlier in the day.
Third-seeded Djokovic, who lost to Nadal in last year's final, survived an erratic first set before raising his game to wrap up victory in two hours, five minutes on the Stadium Court.
"I didn't play so well in the first set," Djokovic, 20, said.
"I made a lot of unforced errors. He knows that I'm going to try to be aggressive so he was waiting for his chance. He was playing very wisely.
Top level
"You can't always play on your top level and it's normal to have some difficult stages in a tournament," added the Serb who has not dropped a set this week.
"I'm happy to win such a difficult match."
On a sun-splashed afternoon at Indian Wells Tennis Garden, Djokovic charged 5-3 up in the opening set after breaking his opponent for a second time, ending a protracted rally with a forehand volley at the net.
However, the 22-year-old Swiss, who won the 2003 French Open junior title, broke back in the ninth and 11th games to edge 6-5 up as the Serb's unforced error count mounted.
Serving for the first set, Wawrinka buckled and Djokovic clinched the tiebreak 7-5 after establishing a 5-3 lead.
The relieved Serb sank to his knees after winning the set with a forehand volley and beat his chest several times in celebration.
"As you could see by the reaction, it was probably the most important point of the game," Djokovic said.
"I'm a very emotional player on the court and I like to express my feelings."
The world No. 3 tightened his grip in the second set, breaking the Swiss in the first and fourth games before serving out for victory.
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