Beijing - Rafael Nadal broke five times as he struggled before finally controlling James Blake in a battling 7-5, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3 win into the quarter-finals of the China Open on Thursday. Nadal was tested by the American, once a regular member of the top 10 before a slide this season which has left him on 24th, with only a pair of losing finals to show for his 2009 efforts.
Nadal levelled at three wins each in the series, having begun turning the tables after standing 0-3 in 2006.
"Winning in three sets always gives you confidence but today what really gives me confidence is how I played," said Nadal, who next faces Marat Safin after the retiring Russian put two straight winning matches together for only the third time in 2009.
"Every match is important; every win is very important. Every win gives you confidence. I feel it was a very good win. I didn't have a lot of bad shots with the forehand, so that's important," said Nadal.
Safin upset Chilean seventh seed Fernando Gonzalez 6-3, 6-4 while Croatian Ivan Ljubicic defeated the spoiler who stunned holder Andy Roddick in the first round, beating Polish qualifier Lucasz Kubot 7-6 (8-6), 4-6, 6-4.
Nadal praised the returns of Blake but couldn't hide his satisfaction with his own performance after playing for the first time in a month due to an abdominal muscle strain.
"I played really well all through the match," said the Spaniard. "It was one of my best since injuring the knee (last spring)."
The tight contest cracked slightly in the final set, with a Blake double-fault giving Nadal a 5-3 lead. The world number two was quickly able to close it out and get off court after nearly two and a half hours.
On the women's WTA side, Nadia Petrova reversed five years of frustration against Serena Williams, sending the second seed out 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5).
But Williams will regain the number one ranking next week on the back of the loss in2 hours, 20 minutes, with Petrova sending over 14 aces and breaking twice.
The Russian earned her only previous win over the 11-time Grand Slam champion American in 2004.
Seventh seed Vera Zvonareva doubled up for Russia, defeating Italian 10th seed Flavia Pennetta 6-3, 5-7, 7-5.
The 2007 Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli, the 14th seed, advanced over China's Zhang Shuai 6-1, 6-4. At number 226, the 20- year-old Zhang was the lowest-ranked player to beat a world number one when she knocked out Dinara Safina this week.
