Novak Djokovic overcame crowd favourite John Isner in a tough three setter to advance to the Indian Wells Master 1000 final, which is set to be played on Sunday against Roger Federer.
The world number two avenged the loss suffered by the American on the same court two years ago, when it was Isner to reach the final.
However, it was far from easy for the Serbian, who had to battle against a truly inspired opponent, who was able to fight back and force the match to a third set. It was only then that Djokovic found his best tennis and finally took full control.
In the first set, serve dominated the early games, with both players holding easily. Nevertheless, it was the giant from North Carolina who first faced break points. With two massive serves he cleared them and subsequently hold.
Isner went on having two consecutive set points on the serve of the Serb, but failed to take any, including a third which followed on 5-4.
The tactic of Djokovic, despite being clear from the very start, showed up in these moments, as he tried to force most of the rallies on the backhand of Isner, trying to neutralise his big forehand.
The plan eventually paid off and in a tense 11th game, the world number two broke the American’s serve and then closed the set 7-5.
The second set started following the same pattern and even if Isner showed great improvements in his movements, it was clear that the rallies were going to favour the second seed whenever the number of shots started to grow.
Djokovic was again the first one to find a break lead, but this time he felt little nervous and Isner took full advantage as he broke the Serb’s serve twice when he served for the match at 5-4 and 6-5.
With the momentum completely on his side, the American blasted past the tiebreak and forced the match to a third set.
His comeback fell short though, as after a few hard-fought games at the start of the third set, the big server from Greensboro started to look weary, while Djokovic was tireless as usual.
Isner, who had lost his serve only twice in the whole tournament before this semi-final, was broken twice in the last set and finally everything looked easy for the second seed, who closed with a self-explanatory 6-1.
Djokovic will look for another revenge on Sunday, as in the final he will face Federer, who defeated him last month in Dubai.
