Rafael Nadal Battles Into Quarter Final
18 March 2010
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Rafael Nadal was taken the distance by John Isner as he booked his place in the quarter finals in Indian Wells.
It was the first test the Spaniard had faced since he returned from injury at the beginning of the week.
It was nip and tuck in the first set as Isner's serve and volley game stood up to Nadal, who is the defending champion in Indian Wells.
But it was the world number three who struck the decisive blow at the end of the set as he broke Isner to take the set 7-5.
Into the second and Isner upped his game and battled back as he broke Nadal twice to level the match at 3-6.
But the Spaniard restored order in the third set as he broke down the Isner defences to open up a 4-1 lead.
While the American managed to hold onto his next couple of service game the lead was sufficient enough for Nadal to wrap up a 7-5 3-6 6-3.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the match the Spaniard heaped praise on his opponent: "Today was a really difficult match, so I know I have to play my best tennis," said Nadal.
"I did really well, I think. I only played a really bad game in the fourth game of the second set, but the rest of the match I'm very happy how I did.
"I think John is a big player, very difficult to play against him, and he has unbelievable potential. So for me it is a very important and very good victory."
Nadal will now face Tomas Berdych in the quarter finals after he was a comfortable 6-1 6-3 winner over Viktor Troicki.
There was no be no continuing fairytale run for Marcus Baghdatis, who sent Roger Federer home early, as he fell to Spaniard Tommy Robredo 7-5 0-6 6-4.
There were also wins for Andy Roddick was made to battle for two sets against Jurgen Melzer, finally coming through with a 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 win.
Juan Monaco saw off Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 3-6 6-2 6-1 to set up a clash with Ivan Ljubicic, who beat Novak Djokovic.
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