The swashbuckling Spaniard is looking for another stamp in his championship passport, having already won the joint ATP and WTA Tour tournament title in 2007, 2009 and 2013. The Serb has won nine of their past 10 meetings, with Nadal’s only victory in that spell coming in the 2014 Roland Garros final.
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“It’s a game of cat and mouse”, he said.
“I think I played well during the week”, Nadal commented. The Serb led 3-1 when Tsonga reeled off three straight errors, including two off his forehand that extended Djokovic’s lead to 6-1.
It is going to take that kind of dedication and devotion to get Djokovic over the next big challenge in his career – winning a French Open. There were signs of vintage Nadal and had he converted that set point in the first, who knows. “That’s the only thing”.
It was here that Djokovic made his move, going 4-1 up in the breaker before being reeled in to 5-5.
Nishikori finally secured the break he required, but immediately ceded the advantage back to Nadal, who swept through the Japanese serve easily before taking match point with a forehand victor.
David Goffin and Milos Raonic, who both booked their places in the last four on Thursday, will also battle it out for a spot in the final.
While Murray, 28, bounced back in 2015 rising from No. 6 to a year-ending No. 2 with four titles, he has won only two Slams, and is just 9-22 against Djokovic, including 11 losses in their past 12 encounters.
“Milos is probably playing the best tennis that he has ever played”, said Djokovic. “His serve was phenomenal before the start of this season, but it seems like he has improved even more, especially the second serve”. His first serve averaged 128 miles per hour – much faster than Djokovic’s 111 miles per hour – but he connected on only 55 percent.
Raonic, playing in his first event since the Australian Open following an adductor tear that had ruled him out since February, left the court for treatment after the first set, which lasted 43 minutes. “Maturity is a big part of it”.
“It will be a great opportunity for myself tomorrow”, Raonic said of his third appearance in an ATP Masters 1000 final.
Azarenka’s victory and Williams’ return to the final for the first time since 2001, when a hostile crowd triggered her 14-year boycott, was overshadowed by comments from tournament director Raymond Moore.
For Rafa, like I said there is now hope. The 25-year-old Belgian upset No. 3 seed Stan Wawrinka in the fourth round to end a 14-match skid against top-10 players and beat Marin Cilic in the quarterfinals. “I just lost the aggression that I had and I didn’t mix up enough the first serve like I was earlier on”.
Rafael Nadal has turned back the clock to book a semi-final against world number one Novak Djokovic at Indian Wells.
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Although his power play is impressive, it looks unlikely that he will get past the current World Number one on 20 March.
