Kicking off the third straight season as world no. 2 in 2007, Rafael Nadal lost in the Chennai semi-final and the Australian Open quarter-final to Fernando Gonzalez. The young Spaniard took a break and returned to action in Dubai, where he won the title a year ago.Mikhail Youzhny proved to be too strong in the quarter-final, and Rafa had to raise his level to stand a chance at the season’s first Masters 1000 event in Indian Wells. Beating four rivals in straight sets, Nadal repeated the semi-final run from 2006 and faced the 3rd seed Andy Roddick in a battle for the first final at this event.It was their third meeting and the second straight victory for Rafa, who produced a 6-4, 6-3 win in an hour and 14 minutes. The youngster dominated on serve and stole Andy’s serve three times to control the scor …