Rafael Nadal is back to tennis after missing most of last year due to a knee injury, but he will be facing a familiar opponent on Thursday when he meets Roger Federer in the quarterfinals of the 2013 ATP BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.
Nadal defeated Ernests Gulbis 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 in a tough match to advance the quarterfinals against Federer, who is the defending champion of the tournament. Federer also had a challenging match, holding off 18th-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka 6-3, 6-7 (4), 7-5. Nadal stopped a scorching hot Gulbis, who had won 13-straight matches after winning the title at Delray Beach.
Nadal caught Gulbis in the midst of playing his 14th match in 19 days and dropped to 0-5 against Nadal in his career. After heading into the third set, the Latvian qualifier was up 5-4, but Nadal stormed back from a 30-15 deficit to win the next five points. After taking the first break of the set, Nadal went up 6-5 and then won it soon after.
Federer is always a threat at Indian Wells, where he is a four time champion. The two stars are meeting in the quarterfinals for the first time since 2004 and it is expected to be a classic matchup despite Nadal missing seven months with a knee injury. The quarterfinal match is the first time the two have met that early since 2004 when they played at the NASDAQ-100 Open in Miami, which was the first match they ever played against each other.
Back in that match, a 17-year old Nadal surprised the top-ranked Federer by defeating him 6-3, 6-3 in straight sets and keeping him from having any break points. Nadal has been able to hold an 18-10 advantage over Federer and would love to add another win on Thursday night after his comeback.
Nadal is ranked number five in the world for the first time since May 2005 and will also have to face another top player if he advances. According to SI.com, the two have 28 Grand Slams between them, a record for two opponents. Federer hasn't been to a tournament final this season, while Nadal has yet to breakthrough since returning from injury.
Nadal's knees have looked strong since returning from injury, but he has a bit of history to break, as he hasn't win a hard-court tournament since 2010. Nadal has said that he might cut down on his hard court tournaments as his career goes on, but that didn't stop him from Indian Wells.
Novak Djokovic advanced the quarterfinals as well after taking down Sam Querrey 6-0, 7-6 (6) in straight sets in a match that only lasted one hour and 25-minutes. Djokovic had a 5-1 lead during the tiebreak and held off the American for the win in straight sets. Maria Sharapova also advanced after defeating Sara Errani, where she will face Maria Kirilenko, who advanced after upsetting Petra Kvitova.
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