Nadal produces Houdini act at Indian Wells I Brits Norrie & Evans through

Rafael Nadal produced a remarkable Houdini act to defeat American Sebastian Korda in an Indian Wells thriller on Saturday as Britain's Cameron Norrie and Dan Evans both advanced, while Daniil Medvedev cruised through his first match as world No 1.

Nadal looked down and out at 5-2 down in the deciding set against American Sebastian Korda, but the Spaniard conjured up a phenomenal comeback to win 6-2 1-6 7-6 (7-3).

The 35-year-old, who clinched a record 21st Grand Slam title at the Australian Open earlier this year, extended his winning streak to 16-0 for the season.

That unbeaten record looked to be seriously under threat when he appeared down and out in the third set.

Instead, Nadal rallied to level at 5-5, saved a break point in his next service game, and forced a final set tie-break, in which he fell 3-2 behind before rallying to keep his hopes of winning a fourth title at the event alive.

"Everyone knows this is my favourite place to play and it is amazing to play in front of all you guys," Nadal said.

"I feel very lucky today to be through. Sebastian was playing some fantastic tennis. He had his chances, but that's tennis."

Before his match, Nadal announced that he would not compete at the Miami Open, which starts later this month.

"Rafa will certainly be missed. He has so many fans here in South Florida, and we hope to see him back in Miami next year," Miami tournament director James Blake said.

Reigning Indian Wells champion Norrie was put out on Court 5 for his opening match, but the British No 1 showed his mental toughness to dispatch Spain's Pedro Martinez 6-3 6-3.

Norrie will face Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili in a repeat of last year's final in the next round.

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