Rafael Nadal fought his way to a 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory over streaking Latvian Ernests Gulbis Wednesday and set up a blockbuster quarter-final against Roger Federer at the Indian Wells Masters. Nadal, playing his fourth tournament since a seven-month injury absence, needed three match points to finally subdue Gulbis, who had won the title as a qualifier at Delray Beach prior to Indian Wells and after qualifying here beaten two seeded players on his way to the fourth round. Nadal mustered only one break point against Gulbis in the third set, but it was all he needed.

Latvian qualifier Ernests Gulbis won his third career ATP title on Sunday by defeating France's Edouard Roger-Vasselin 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 at the Delray Beach International Championships. Gulbis, ranked four spots below his opponent at 109 in the world, saved a set point in the 10th game of the match with a backhand winner and broke back on his way to taking his second Delray Beach crown in four years. "I'm really happy," Gulbis said. "I worked hard. These last nine days were tough. I had a match almost every day, except one day it rained, so I'm exhausted now."