MASON, Ohio — The vintage rematch ended with Rafael Nadal pumping his arms after a final forehand. He was a little bit better than old nemesis Roger Federer once again.

Nadal advanced to the semifinals of the Western & Southern Open with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 win over Federer on Friday night, a vintage rematch that reinforced their head-to-head standings for now.

Nadal improved to 21-10 against his top rival, including wins all of their three matches this year. A close match came down to a few points, and Nadal got most of them.

“Always the emotion’s out there when we play each other,” Nadal said.

Their first meeting in Cincinnati highlighted a day of upsets in the men’s bracket. No. 1 Novak Djokovic and No. 2 Andy Murray lost in the quarterfinals. No. 1 Serena Williams moved on in the women’s bracket.

Nadal moves on, too, playing Tomas Berdych in the semifinals.

It’s been a summer of resurgence for the 27-year-old Spaniard. He missed the end of last season with a knee injury, but has gotten into one of the best stretches this season. He takes a career-best 51-3 mark into the semifinal, including a 14-1 against Top 10 opponents.