“I definitely didn’t expect to be on that stage again”, said Williams, who was back at Indian Wells after ending her 14-year boycott last year.
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Novak Djokovic toppled a resurgent Rafael Nadal in straight sets on Saturday to reach the final at Indian Wells, where he’ll face Canada’s Milos Raonic in an attempt to win a third straight and record fifth overall title.
It will take great tennis for Raonic to beat Djokovic, who holds a 5-0 career edge over him and has lost only one set to him.
Djokovic knows an improvement will be needed in order to lift the title but getting past such a tricky opponent in the last-four has provided a big boost.
Djokovic said he felt like this was one of his best performances and that all the preparation he did beforehand helped him get into what he described as “the zone” when he hits the court.
Raonic, of Thornhill, Ont., fired 10 aces in defeating Belgian David Goffin 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in semifinal action Saturday.
“I’m just glad to be able to raise the level of my game as the tournament progresses, and that’s something that I have been doing in the last two years particularly on the big events”.
“Today was closer than the last couple of times against the best player of world, so was a very positive week for me”, Nadal said.
The duo have faced each other five times in ATP history with Novak Djokovic having a 100% success rate. With straight sets 6-2, 6-0 top-ranked star dismiss opponents.
Last year, Raonic saved three match points to beat Nadal in the semis before losing to Roger Federer in the final. But Nadal quickly recovered in the next game to break the sixth-ranked Japanese player and won the match on his serve with a forehand down the line.
Raonic did not play any competitive tennis in February due to an adductor injury, and he left the court for treatment at the end of the first set. “Then he started to miss some first serves and I was returning very well the second set serve, returning very aggressive”. He’s going for it more.
Raonic is 8-8 heading into his 17th career ATP Tour final.
“It was a tough match against Wawrinka and tough one against Cilic, but against Milos I had also many opportunities”, Goffin said.
The world number one came through a keenly contested first set tie-break to find his brilliant best in the second set and see off Nadal, who showed glimpses of his old Grand Slam-winning form. He then broke Nadal again in the eighth game to claim his 25th victory over his Spanish rival, converting his sixth match point. He could rise as high as No. 10 if he wins the final.
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This title is Novak Djokovic’s third for the year.
