Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have both battled through three-set thrillers to set up a mouthwatering quarter-final at Indian Wells.
Defending champion Federer defeated fellow Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka 6-3 6-7 (4-7) 7-5, labouring two hours and 20 minutes to subdue his old friend.
Nadal, playing his fourth tournament since returning from a seven-month injury absence, outlasted the in-form Latvian Ernests Gulbis 4-6 6-4 7-5.
Federer had a golden opportunity to make his day much shorter but, serving for the match at 5-4 in the second set, he was broken to love.
Unable to convert two break points in the following game, he surrendered the set on a tiebreaker when he double-faulted on set point.
Wawrinka then gained the upper hand with a break in the third set, but Federer, winner of 17 grand slam titles, broke back and earned the decisive break in the final game as Wawrinka smacked a volley into the net.
“I think I was a little little lucky to come through it in the end,” said Federer, who continued to say a sore back would not hinder his pursuit of a first title of 2013.
“Overall I’m very pleased that I was able to play today and play at a high level, which was important obviously at this stage of the tournament.”
Nadal is playing his first hardcourt tournament since left-knee tendinitis forced him out of the Miami Masters last March.
The same injury later sidelined him for seven months – from a second-round defeat at Wimbledon until a comeback swing of three claycourt tournaments in Latin America in February that yielded two titles and a runner-up finish.
Nadal had admitted he did not know how his knee would hold up on hardcourts and, in qualifier Gulbis, he came up against a red-hot player who had won the Delray Beach title as a qualifier the week before Indian Wells and toppled two seeds en route to his meeting with the Spaniard.
When he finally blasted a forehand winner on his third match point, Nadal gave a little leap of joy.
“I had to suffer a lot to win this match,” he said.
World No.3 Andy Murray reached the quarter-finals with a 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 victory over Argentina’s Carlos Berlocq and next meets seventh-seeded Argentine Juan Martin del Potro, who beat German veteran Tommy Haas 6-1 6-2.
Sixth-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych defeated France’s Richard Gasquet 6-1 7-5 to advance to a quarter-final meeting with South African Kevin Anderson, a 6-3 1-6 6-4 winner over France’s Gilles Simon.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga kept the French flag flying with a 4-6 7-5 6-4 victory over Milos Raonic.
The night session was to feature Novak Djokovic taking on American Sam Querrey – the last man to beat the world No.1, back on October 31.
