World No. 2 Rafael Nadal finally solved the James Blake riddle, defeating the American for the first time in four career meetings on Thursday in Indian Wells to set up a semifinal clash with World No. 2 Novak Djokovic. Nadal defeated Djokovic last year in the youngest final in Indian Wells tournament history.

Djokovic Passes Swiss Test

Nadal took the set lead when Blake made a risky decision in the first set. With the Spaniard holding a break point at 5-all, Blake stopped play in the middle of the point to challenge what he believed was a long return from the Spaniard. The video replay showed the ball had clipped the baseline – giving Nadal the break. Blake then saw his triple break point come to naught in the following game as Nadal reeled off five straight points.

Blake regrouped to take a 3-0 lead in the second set – enough to push the match to a third set as both players stayed on serve – and earned the first break point in the opening game of the third set, but failed to take advantage. Nadal, in contrast, converted on his second break point chance in the ninth game and then served out the win with an ace on match point, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3.

“I had some break point opportunities at 6-5 in the first set; I didn't get those,” said Blake, who defeated Nadal in the 2006 semifinals en route to a runner-up finish against Roger Federer. “That was the difference in the match, just a couple of points here and there.

“Just had to play my game and try to play as comfortably as I could and not let his defense and his game affect me. And he's No. 2 in the world for a reason, and he did make his presence felt out there. I didn't do enough to hurt him on the big points.”

Nadal, who will be looking to reach his second final of the year after finishing as the runner-up in Chennai in his 2008 season opener, said: “The thing is not beating James. The thing is being in the semifinals and [defeating] two big players like [Jo-Wilfried] Tsonga and Blake in quarterfinals. In the last months I didn't have bad results... But the truth is I feel like I didn't win against the best players in the world. So when I have two consecutive wins against these players, that's very important for me.”

The 21-year-old Spaniard owns a 6-2 career record against his semifinal opponent, but the two are even in their four hard court meetings and Djokovic holds the 2-1 edge on outdoor hard courts.

“I’ve been successful against him on the hard courts outdoors, so I can say that I feel pretty confident [playing] him,” said Djokovic. “We know each other's game [well], and we had a lot of meetings in the last year.”

This will be the first time the two will face off since Djokovic captured his first career Grand Slam title in February at the Australian Open. Nadal said: “I play against the best player of the first part of the season, so this is an interesting match for me. It’s going to be challenge for me to play against him.”