Rafael Nadal dug deep to beat mercurial wildcard Nick Kyrgios 7-6 (7-0), 5-7, 6-4 in a blockbuster quarterfinal match that lived up to the hype at Indian Wells on Thursday.

Despite not playing at his best, the Spaniard managed to deliver in the match's biggest moments and maintain his composure as his opponent threw his racket and jawed with the chair umpire, fans and himself.

Nadal saved break points early in the third set and hung on to see off the big-serving Australian and extend his unbeaten record this year to 19 matches.