Stan Wawrinka battled into the BNP Paribas Open semi-finals with a hard-fought win over Dominic Thiem on Thursday.

The Swiss third seed survived yet another test at Indian Wells, edging Thiem 6-4 4-6 7-6 (7-2).

It marked a second consecutive round in which Wawrinka has been pushed to a third-set tie-break, having overcome Yoshihito Nishioka in the last 16.

Thiem, the world number nine, had his chances in the third set, but also had to come from a break down to force a tie-break.

Wawrinka won five straight points from 2-2 in the tie-break, having been denied by the Austrian in the 12th game.

It marked a third straight win for Wawrinka over Thiem, who had claimed victory in their first meeting.

CARRENO BUSTA CONTINUES RUN

Wawrinka's semi-final opponent is Pablo Carreno Busta, who battled to a 6-1 3-6 7-6 (7-4) win over Pablo Cuevas.

The Spaniard saved two match points to advance to a maiden ATP 1000 semi-final.

Wawrinka has won both of his previous matches against Carreno Busta, although they were on clay.