Nadal goes though at Indian Wells

Rafael Nadal ensured his place in the semi-finals of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells on Thursday.

The defending champion earned a straight sets win over Tomas Berdych, though was given a reasonable test by the Czech player who eventually went down 6-4 7-6 (7-4).

The world number three's form is continuing to improve after his return from a knee injury and he saved five of seven break points on the day before his big-hitting ensnared a last-four battle with the Croatian Ivan Ljubicic.

Ljubicic came from a set down to beat Argentina's Juan Monaco 4-6 6-2 6-1, a fine second set showing from the Croatian tuning the match completely in his favour.

Meanwhile, in the women's event Serbian ace Jelena Jankovic reached the semi-finals by beating Russian Alisa Kleybanova 6-4 6-4.

Samantha Stosur of Australia awaits her in the last four after she downed Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain 6-3 7-6 (9-7).