Djokovic, Isner reach semis at Indian Wells

INDIAN WELLS: For the first time in four years, Novak Djokovic is without a big title to start the year. The Serb is used to arriving at the BNP Paribas Open with the Australian Open in his back pocket, having won the season´s first Grand Slam three straight years.

He lost in the quarterfinals in Melbourne in January, and then lost in the semifinals at Dubai last month. "That is a different feel from previous years," he said.

So Djokovic is especially eager to hoist the trophy at Indian Wells, where he´s a two-time champion. He took a step toward that goal with a 6-1, 6-3 quarterfinal victory against Frenchman Julien Benneteau in just over an hour on Friday. "I´m on the right path and playing semifinals, which is always of course a challenge and a good result," he said, "but I want to try to go as far as I can."

Djokovic never faced a break point on his serve against Benneteau, the only unseeded player left in the men´s draw.

The Serb held break points on Benneteau´s serve in seven of eight games, and broke him four times during the match.

It was Djokovic´s easiest match so far. He needed three sets to get by Marin Cilic and Alejandro Gonzalez, and had to win a tiebreaker against Victor Hanescu in his opening match. "I felt like I was very focused on the court from the start, and it´s what I was looking for. First few matches I played good tennis but I had some ups and downs," Djokovic said. "He made a lot of unforced errors, and obviously I just needed to make him play an extra shot and serve well."

Djokovic will next play 12th-seeded John Isner, the lone remaining American, in Saturday´s semifinals.

Isner beat Djokovic at the same stage in 2012 before losing to Roger Federer in the final.

Federer, a four-time winner here, will meet Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine in the other semifinal.

Isner fired 13 aces to beat 20th-seeded Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 7-6 (4), 7-6 (3) in Friday´s other quarterfinal.

Isner dropped serve twice to fall behind 4-2 in the second set, but broke back to level the score at 5-all and then dominated the tiebreaker. "I had all my energy going for me," he said. "I know I have those serves in my arsenal. It´s just a matter of me pulling them out and I went for them."

The American is projected to return to the top 10 in Monday´s ATP rankings, the first time he has been there since September 2012. "It´s hard to stay there," he said. "I fell back, but I have been knocking on the door for quite some time. It feels good to get back in there.” (AP)