In a ruthless performance, the Rafa Nadal eased past his great rival Roger Federer, who was ailing with a bad back, in straight sets 6-4, 6-2 in the quarterfinals of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.

Nadal's comeback from a long-term injury has been one of the most anticipated in tennis, with the 26-year-old proving his wobbly knees can bear the strain by winning two of the three clay-court tournaments on his return.

In his first hard court meeting, however, the knees were expected to stand the sternest test, and after sealing his passage into the quarterfinals, he met Federer for the first time before the semis since 2004, when Nadal beat the 17-time Grand Slam champion for the first time in their first ever meeting in the Sony Open in Miami.

Nadal's injury enforced absence meant the Spaniard has gone down to No. 5 in the rankings, which drew the two tennis greats, who have won 28 Grand Slams combined, together in the last eight.

The result and indeed the match turned out to be a bit of an anti-climax though, with Federer far from 100 percent battling it out against Nadal, who was finding his feet and looking to get back to his best.

However, like he has done in recent times, it was Nadal who took control of the proceedings, and with the victory taking his all-time record against the Swiss great to 19-10.

Nadal, a two-time winner here in Indian Wells, will now meet Tomas Berdych after the Czech stormed past Kevin Anderson 6-4, 6-4.

"I feel quite well on court, and especially I would say physically, because I already play quite a lot in the past couple of weeks," Berdych said after the straight set win.

"So that's the important sign for me, that I can be fit for the guys in the next rounds. Then I can focus on the game that I want to play and the game what is working."