World number one Novak Djokovic continued his rich vein of form as he saw off Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France in straight-sets to book his place in the semi-final of the BNP Paribas Open here on Saturday.
The 28-year-old Serbian swept aside his French opponent 7-6(2), 7-6(2) in a thrilling quarter-final contest that lasted for two hours and six minutes.
With this win, Djokovic has set up a semi-final clash against fourth-seed Rafael Nadal, who has also made it to the next round after claiming a comfortable 6-4, 6-3 triumph over Japanese opponent Kei Nishikori.
The semi-final of the men’s singles event will now feature two of the game’s all-time greats in the longest-running Open Era rivalry.
Djokovic and Nadal will meet for the 48th time, with the Serbian leading their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry 24-23.
As far as Indian Wells is concerned, Nadal’s only victory came in their first battle of the four matches they have played against each other.
