Rafeal Nadal overcame a monstrous start and a measured comeback attempt from Nick Kyrgios with an assured finish on Thursday in the BNP Paribas Open quarter-finals.

With the 7-6(0), 5-7, 6-4 victory, Nadal extends his perfect season to 19-0 and improves his record against Kyrgios to 6-3, including wins in their past three meetings.

Nadal trailed by a break in the opening set and faced two break points in his first service game of the decider, but locked in to surge late in both sets and advance.

“I think for moments I played well,” Nadal said post-match. “It’s difficult to play against him, always tough because he changes the dynamic of the point very quick and his serve is huge, especially the first serve.

“I think I played a good third set. Returning better. I was solid with the serve; I just suffered in one game with my serve. Nick is one of these kind of players that you're going to have problems when he’s motivated."

A three-time champion in Indian Wells, Nadal returns to the semi-finals for the 11th time in the desert.