Djokovic Beats Nadal Again In The Desert

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic will play for an unprecedented fifth BNP Paribas Open title after edging Rafael Nadal 7-6(5), 6-2 in Saturday’s semi-finals at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

The Serb will face Milos Raonic in Sunday’s championship match and has beaten the Canadian in all five of their previous meetings, only losing one set. This will be their first contest since the 2015 Australian Open quarter-finals.

The 28-year-old Djokovic improved to a 46-6 record at this ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament as he defeated Nadal in just under two hours on Stadium 1.

In the pair’s 48^th meeting – an Open Era record on the ATP World Tour – the Serb rallied from an early break down. He also fended off a set point on serve in the 10^th game before getting the better of Nadal in the subsequent tie-break, clinching the opener as Nadal netted a backhand.

Djokovic made the decisive breakthrough in the sixth game of the second set, going up 4-2 as Nadal committed a forehand unforced error into the net. He then broke Nadal again in the eighth game to claim his 25^th victory over his Spanish rival, converting his sixth match point.

Djokovic is looking to add to the Indian Wells titles he won in 2008 (d. Fish), 2011 (d. Nadal), 2014 (d. Federer) and 2015 (d. Federer); he also finished runner-up in 2007 (l. to Nadal).

The Belgrade native is chasing a record-equaling 27^th Masters 1000 crown. Last year he added six more to his collection, with victories in Indian Wells, Miami, Monte-Carlo, Rome, Shanghai and Paris.

Three-time former champion Nadal was bidding to reach the final here for the fifth time. The 29-year-old Spaniard advanced to the semifinals after saving a match point against Next Generation star Alexander Zverev in the fourth round. He then defeated No. 6-ranked Kei Nishikori in the quarterfinals for his first Top 10 win of the season.

SET 1

Novak Djokovic erased a set point and withstood some classic retrieving from Rafael Nadal to win the first set of their semi-final match at the BNP Paribas Open on Saturday.

Djokovic, who was a down a break early in the set, recovered to win 7-6(5.) The World No. 1 has now won 12 consecutive sets against the Spaniard.

Nadal, though, hardly could have dreamed a better start to their record 48^th meeting.

The No. 4 seed held easily to start the match, and then broke Djokovic, who struggled to serve into the sun and grabbed a hat during the middle of the game. The break alone was a somewhat of a feat for Nadal. During their previous 54 games on hard courts, Nadal had broken Djokovic exactly once.

But Djokovic did not let the sentiment last long; he broke back the very next game to put the all-time greats back on serve at 1-2.

They stayed on serve until the tie-break, although both players had break opportunities later in the set. At 3-all, Djokovic had two break-point opportunities but Nadal erased them both. At 5-4, Nadal had a set point on Djokovic’s serve, but the Serb erased it and held.

In the tie-break, Djokovic held a 5-2 lead until Nadal roared back to make it 5-5. But the Serb won the final two points of the set.