Rafael Nadal lost his quarter-final clash with Milos Raonic in Indian Wells but believes his performance showed he is getting back to his best . The defeat meant Nadal missed the chance of joining Novak Djokovic , Roger Federer and Andy Murray in the semi-finals for the first time since the 2012 Australian Open . But , after Raonic saved three match points to spring the shock , the Spaniard admitted : ‘ I ’ m leaving Indian Wells with the feeling that I had a big chance to do more and with the feeling that I was ready to compete again well . Rafael Nadal believes he 's closing in on being back to his best after a promising Indian Wells display . ‘ I think a match like this obviously is much better if you win but , even losing , I ’ m 90 per cent sure that will help me. ’ The three-time Indian Wells winner added : ‘ It ’ s true that I didn ’ t compete at that level of intensity mentally in tennis for a long time . ‘ I was able to be very focused , playing with positive energy for three hours , so that ’ s great news for me , because that ’ s the way I competed during all of my career. ’ Milos Raonic upset the Spaniard and saved three match points in the process of winning the clash . Canadian Raonic looked like he might be heading out after losing the first set inside 36 minutes , but he rallied to save three match points in an epic second-set tie-break , forcing a deciding set . The sixth seed , who fired 19 aces and also saved six break points , finally ended Nadal ’ s perfect record against Canadians by earning a break in the third and clinching a 4-6 , 7-6 , 7-5 victory . After his first win over Nadal , Raonic said : ‘ At the moments when I was playing those match points , it didn ’ t really feel like match points . Nadal has had an injury hit 18 months but now looks to come back stronger and hopes to win more titles . ‘ It was just like another point that I was trying to get through , sort of going through the paces at that moment of what I need to do , not really signifying it as a match point . ‘ It ’ s really great what I was able to do today and I ’ m very happy with it but I don ’ t let myself get caught up because this isn ’ t where it ends . There is a lot more to achieve. ’ It does not get any easier for Raonic , with Federer his semi-final opponent . The Swiss master reached the last four with a routine 6-4 , 6-0 victory over Tomas Berdych . The impressive Canadian progresses to the semi-finals as his reputation continues to grow . He had 21 winners , equalling the number of unforced errors by Berdych , won 13 of 14 points at the net , never faced a break point on his serve and broke Berdych four times in the match , including three times in the second set . A clearly delighted Federer said : ‘ It ’ s not just another win but another win against a top 10 player — against Berdych , who has played me tough in recent years . I was really able to utilise the court much more , play more angles , play with variation , spin and slice . I did that very well . ‘ Because I was serving well and moving well , so maybe there is not going to be that many chances for him on the return . ’
Rafael Nadal was knocked out at Indian Wells by Canadian Milos Raonic . The Spaniard believes he 's close to be back to his very best after injury . Nadal had 13 match points but Raonic fought back to claim the win .