Indian Wells: Rafael Nadal beats Nick Kyrgios to reach semi-finals

The Spaniard has already won the Australian Open and Mexican Open this season, and having defeated Sebastian Korda, Dan Evans and Reilly Opelka, he is looking to add a third title to his belt in California.

Kyrgios was his toughest test yet at Indian Wells, with the Australian Open doubles champion in decent form himself, but Nadal eventually prevailed 7-6 (7) 5-7 6-4.

The opening set was particularly difficult for Nadal, who double faulted at 1-1 to hand Kyrgios the break.

However, the Spaniard rallied and took the set to a tie-break, which he dominated 7-0 as Kyrgios received a code violation and a resultant point penalty.

In the second set, Nadal was able to hold serve five times, but Kyrgios denied the Spaniard a second tie-break by breaking him in the final game to claim the set.

Nadal looked to be struggling in the decisive third and final set, with the 21-time Grand Slam winner forced to save two break points early on.

However, Kyrgios hit a double fault at 3-3, allowing Nadal to break serve. He then held on for the remainder of the set to win the match.

Speaking after the game, Kyrgios admitted his disappointment, saying, "That one hit pretty hard. I felt like I was the one to end Nadal's streak. I played well and did everything right in the first set. I had a game plan, and everything was working.

"I was two points from winning the set, and I do not know how he got out to win that tenth game, especially the fourth point.

"As a little kid, this is what you dream about to play these events against Nadal and the hype around it. I do not see any other matches getting this kind of hype.

"As soon as we matched up against each other, social media's going nuts. I think it lived up to it."

Nadal will now face fellow countryman Carlos Alcaraz Garfia in the semi-finals after he defeated defending champion Cameron Norrie 6-4 6-3 in his quarter-final clash.