Top seed Rafael Nadal endured to post a 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (9-7) triumph into the semi-finals of the Indian Wells Masters by resisting a barrage of 23 aces off the racket of Croatian strongman Ivo Karlovic.

Spain’s Tommy Robredo had to pull out the match against Argentine Juan Del Potro. He experienced an adductor muscle strain in two places, which will also compel him to miss the forthcoming Miami Masters.

On Friday, the two other quarterfinals will be staged. 12th-seeded Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka will face second-seeded former No. 1 Roger Federer and high-flying Novak Djokovic will take up the challenge against 18th-seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet. On Wednesday, the Frenchman overwhelmed American favorite Andy Roddick.

This year has been an ideal one for Djokovic. He has won titles at the Australian Open and Dubai. In December, he led Serbia to it’s first-ever Davis Cup championship and in 2008, he was the Indian Wells champion and runner-up in 2007.

Marion Bartoli reached the BNP Paribas Open semi-finals with a 6-4 7-6 (7-4) win over former world number one Ana Ivanovic. Maria Sharapova managed to grasp out a painful 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 win over China’s Peng Shuai for a semi-final place, even though she fell short to convert on eight of 10 break points and committed 13 double-faults.

Tennis betting lines have received a lot of action these last few weeks for the on-going Indian Wells championship. The odds for Stanislas Wawrinka 33, Novak Djokovic 19/10, Roger Federer 21/5, Rafael Nadal are 44/25 and Juan Martin Del Potro 7.

In the women’s singles, the odds are Marion Bartoli 7, Yanina Wickmayer 11/2, Maria Sharapova 4 and Caroline Wozniacki 73/100.