Rafael Nadal eliminated from Indian Wells Masters

World number one Rafael Nadal has been dumped out of the Indian Wells Masters after losing a dramatic deciding set tie-break to Alexandr Dolgopolov this morning.

Nadal - a three-time winner of the competition and defending champion - slumped to a 6-3 first-set defeat.

Nevertheless, the Spaniard responded strongly and established a 5-2 second-set lead en route to 6-3 win.

The Ukrainian - ranked 30 places below his Spanish counterpart in the ATP rankings - went within a game of the last 16, only for Nadal to hold serve to force a tie-break.

Dolgopolov lost his service game twice within the opening six games as the 27-year-old took control of the match for the first time by establishing a 4-2 lead.

However, the pendulum swung the way of the world number 31 once more after inflicting a break of serve to move into a 6-5 advantage before sealing a 7-5 to edge the tense finale.