Novak Djokovic knocks off Rafael Nadal to reach final at Indian Wells

Novak Djokovic met Rafael Nadal for the 25th time on hard courts in their professional tennis careers and came away with a 7-6 (5), 6-2 victory on Saturday in the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif.

Djokovic, the world's top-ranked player, boosted his record to 18-7 against Nadal on the surface and will be bidding for a record fifth title in the tournament when he faces Milos Raonic in the men's final on Sunday in the California desert.

Raonic, a Canadian who is ranked No. 14 in the world, defeated David Goffin of Belgium 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in the other semifinal.

Nadal had won the event three times, but he has now lost to Djokovic in their past seven meetings on hard courts since the Spaniard won the 2013 U.S. Open. Djokovic holds a 25-23 advantage in all matches against Nadal.

Against Nadal, Djokovic rallied after he was down a break early, fighting to survive a set point in the 10th game of the first set and then winning the tiebreak.

In the second set, Djokovic went up 4-2 and finished the match with a break in the eighth game to claim the victory.

The 25-year-old Raonic reached the semifinal at Indian Wells for the second straight year after losing to Roger Federer in 2015.

But this time around there was no stopping Raonic from reaching the final. After winning the first set against Goffin, Raonic dropped the second before regrouping with a break at the start of the third set that propelled him to victory.

Raonic bounced back from an adductor tear that sidelined him last month after he won his eighth ATP Tour title in Brisbane in January and reached the semifinals of Australian Open before losing to Andy Murray.

Djokovic has beaten Raonic in each of their five previous meetings and dropped only one set.