Djokovic reaches Indian Wells semi-finals

INDIAN WELLS: Top seed and defending champ Novak Djokovic stepped up his bid for his third Indian Wells title by easing past 12th seed Nicolas Almagro 6-3, 6-4 on Thursday.

World number one Djokovic has now beaten Almagro in all three career meetings and he has reached the Indian Wells semis for the third year in a row.

Djokovic, who has won the last three Grand Slams, is coming off one of the best years in the history of tennis, as he started off 2011 with 41 consecutive match wins. He is now 14-1 in 2012.

The Serbian next faces American 11th seed John Isner who defeated Gilles Simon of France 6-3, 1-6, 7-5 in the other quarter-final.

Djokovic hammered five aces and won 77 percent of his first serve points in the 82 minute match Thursday.

"What made me happy was my serve," he said. "I served well. I didn't lose many points on my service games in both sets, and that's something that I have been working on. I have been trying to get more free points on the first serves."

Djokovic broke Almagro twice in taking the opening set in 30 minutes but had a tougher time in the second as Almagro started to connect with his first serve.

Tied 3-3 in the second set and serving, Almagro hit a backhand winner to reach game point, which he closed out with an ace.

But Djokovic won the next three games, breaking Almagro's serve in the ninth game and then served for the victory. He clinched the match on his first match point with a backhand winner.

Almagro is one of the busiest players on the ATP Tour this year as this was his seventh tournament. He captured his 11th career singles title in Sao Paulo last month.

Isner, 26, has now won both career meetings against Simon, including a three hour, 39-minute battle in the fourth round of the 2011 US Open. (AFP)