Djokovic eases into semi-finals

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.

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 per cent of his first serve points in the 82-minute match.

Djokovic’s win keeps alive the prospect that the game’s big three – Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal – could make it to the semi-finals.

Federer and Nadal were both in quarter-final action last night.

In the women’s competition, three time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova rallied to defeat fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 to reach the semi-finals.

Sharapova will face another former Indian Wells winner, Ana Ivanovic, in the semis after the Serbian eased past a stricken Marion Bartoli 6-3, 6-4 in a rematch of their quarter-final contest from last year.