Rafael Nadal reaches semifinals at Indian Wells

There were backhands and forehands, slices and lobs, smashes and passes — and that was just on a single point of the BNP Paribas Open men’s quarterfinal between defending champion Rafael Nadal and 19th-seeded Tomas Berdych on Thursday night at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

With a tricky night wind kicking up, giving flight to water bottles and tennis shots, Nadal showed both his grunting power and deft cleverness in a 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) win over Berdych.

Next Nadal will get big-serving Croatian veteran Ivan Ljubicic, seeded 20th, who well-described his own tennis as “clever” after his 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 win over 21st-seeded Juan Monaco of Argentina.

The Nadal-Berdych match was filled with dueling volleys, competitive lobs and changes of pace on almost every backhand and forehand.

When Nadal finished off his 2-hour, 12-minute win with a decisive forehand winner, the 23-year-old Spaniard leaped into the air and pumped his fist. The defending champion also threw wristbands to the crowd.

In the women’s quarterfinals, sixth-seeded Jelena Jankovic moved ahead with a decisive 6-4, 6-4 beating of 23rd-seeded Russian Alisa Kleybanova, and eighth-seeded Samantha Stosur of Australia outhit 28th-seeded Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, 6-3, 7-6 (9-7).

The most drama was in the Nadal-Berdych match and it came from wondering which player would concoct the most clever rally. There was a 20-point game in the first set, where Nadal won with shots as diverse as a forehand pass, a leaping overhead and a gentle volley. Berdych used lobs and off-speed junk and pummeling forehands, and it was enough for him to hold serve and stay down by only one service break.

Even early in the match Nadal was showing a full range of shot-making. On his first service game Nadal tried serving and volleying and after the 20-point fifth game won by Berdych both players slapped themselves on the thigh. While the wind was causing a little havoc with the trash, the players seemed oblivious.

Nadal got the decisive service break in the first set with a forehand winner to go up 5-4 and then he held serve at 15.

The defending champion also got the first service break in the second set in the seventh game that included Nadal hitting a drop volley that brought the crowd to its feet. But Nadal couldn’t keep his advantage. Berdych immediately tied the set by following a crosscourt backhand passing shot that gave him break point with a big return that forced Nadal into a forehand error.

Berdych, a 25-year-old who hasn’t won a set off Nadal since 2006 and who had lost his last five matches to the Spaniard, took the early lead in the tiebreak, 2-0, with a forehand winner and a volley, but Nadal earned the minibreak back on the fifth point. Berdych seemed finally to feel Nadal’s constant pressure when he double faulted on the ninth point to go down, 5-4.

Nadal hit a giant forehand winner on the next point. The ball touched just inside the line and when it landed Nadal gave the crowd a fist-pump. Nadal won the final point with another forehand winner.

He was no happier than Ljubicic had been earlier in the day. The Croatian, who turns 31 Friday, has been a quarterfinalist here three of the last four years, but this is his first semifinal.

“The conditions here suit my game perfectly,” he said. “It’s nice and dry. The ball goes through the air pretty quickly. It’s just perfect. It’s definitely the favorite place for me to play matches.”

As a two-time champion, Nadal seems to feel the same.

“Thank you very much,” Nadal told the big stadium crowd after he hit them balls and threw them sweaty wristbands. “I like it here very much.”

diane.pucin@latimes.com

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