Rafael Nadal battled past big-hitting American Reilly Opelka 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/5) on Wednesday to push his 2022 record to 18-0 and reach the quarter-finals of the Indian Wells WTA and ATP Masters.
The 35-year-old Spaniard, who won a record-setting 21st Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January and lifted the trophy in Acapulco last month, stayed on track for a fourth title in the California desert.
But he had all he could handle from the 2.11m tall American, including a raft of serves that topped the 140 mph mark and had Nadal's back against the wall -- literally.
Nadal became just the second player to start a season 18-0 since the ATP Tour launched in 1990. Novak Djokovic has done it twice, starting 41-0 in 2011 and 26-0 in 2020. In other matches, Serbia's 61st-ranked Miomir Kecmanovic shocked sixth-ranked Matteo Berrettini 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 6-4 to book a quarter-final clash with American Taylor Fritz.
The 22-year-old Kecmanovic equalled the biggest win of his career as he reached the last eight of a Masters level event for the second time.
Berrettini, runner-up at Wimbledon in 2021, is at a career-high sixth in the world after reaching the Australian Open semi-finals in January.
But he couldn't find the answer against an aggressive Kecmanovic, who pressured Berrettini's serve throughout.
Unable to convert two break points in the eighth game of the final set, Kecmanovic broke Berrettini to love in the final game, letting out a shout of triumph as the Italian sent a forehand wide on match point.
Kecmanovic will now be hoping to go further than his quarter-final run in the California desert in 2019.
Standing in his way will be 20th-seeded American Fritz, who shook off a slow start to beat Australian Alex de Minaur 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/5).