In a repeat of this year’s Australian Open semifinal in which Tsonga upset the Spaniard, Nadal gained revenge by winning a fluctuating encounter in just over three hours.
“A victory like this is always special and it gives me confidence,” second seed Nadal said after dropping his first set of the tournament. “I played better today than in Australia, but the conditions are better here for me.”
The Spaniard won the last five games as Tsonga’s high-risk strategy ultimately backfired and he will next meet American James Blake who eased past another Frenchman, Richard Gasquet, 6-4 6-2.
Smooth progress
Smooth progress was also made by three-time champion Roger Federer and third-seeded Serb Novak Djokovic, Federer outplaying Croat Ivan Ljubicic 6-3, 6-4 after Djokovic had earlier crushed Argentina’s Guillermo Canas 6-2, 6-3.
On a sun-drenched afternoon at Indian Wells Tennis Garden, Nadal and Tsonga split the first two sets on tie-breaks.
They both held serve in the third until the sixth ga-me when the long-haired Spaniard, who had contro-lled a protracted rally, over-hit a forehand to be broken and trail 4-2.
Tsonga appeared in control when leading 5-3 and serving for the match but he was broken by Nadal in an erratic game that ended when an explosive forehand flew wide.
The Frenchman was again broken in the 11th, double-faulting before hitting another forehand long for the Spaniard to go 6-5 up.
Urged on by the crowd, Nadal served out to seal victory, clinching the final point with a smash.
Other results: Tommy Haas (Ger) bt Andy Murray (Brit) 2-6, 7-5, 6-3; David Nalbandian (Arg) bt Juan Carlos Ferrero (Esp) 6-2, 6-2; Mardy Fish (US) bt Lleyton Hewitt (Aus) 7-5, 3-6, 7-6; Stanislas Wawrinka (Sui) bt Hyung-taik Lee (Kor) 6-1, 5-7, 6-4.
Sharapova in semis
Former champion Maria Sharapova maintained her perfect start to the season to join fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova in the women’s semifinals.
Sharapova, the Australian Open champion and fourth seed, stormed back from 5-2 down in the first set to beat holder Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia 7-6, 6-1 in an evening quarterfinal.
The 20-year-old will face Kuznetsova in the last four after the second seed swept past Polish teenager Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2, 6-4.
Sania-Mattek win
Sania Mirza and her American partner Bethanie Mattek stunned formidable Taipei duo of Yung-Jan Chan and Chia-Jung Chua-ng to book a doubles semifinal berth, adds PTI.
The Indo-US combine prevailed 7-5, 4-6, 11-9 in a gruelling quarterfinal.
Sania and Mattek next take on Zi Yan and Jie Zheng. The third-seeded Chinese pair Czech-Polish combine of Iveta Benesova and Agnieszka Radwanska 6-0, 6-4.
In men’s doubles, Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles of Bahamas, the sixth seeds, lost their quarterfinal 3-6, 4-6 to fourth seeds Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram of Israel.
