Indian Wells, California, Mar 19 (EFE).– Serbian world No. 1 Novak Djokovic won a hard-fought first set that lasted well over an hour before asserting full control in a 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 victory here Saturday over Spain’s Rafael Nadal at the BNP Paribas Open.

Djokovic had won the last five matches in the rivalry – all in straight sets, mostly recently a 6-2, 6-1 shellacking in the Doha final in January – to take a career lead in their head-to-head for the first time.

But he nearly dropped his first set against the fifth-ranked Spaniard since a four-set loss in the 2014 Roland Garros final, staving off a set point when serving at 4-5 in the first set in what proved to be a critical juncture of the match.

Nadal managed to stay close in the first set by winning a whopping 72 percent of his second-serve points, but that percentage dipped sharply in the second set (37 percent), leading to two costly service breaks.

Although Nadal made crucial errors in the first set that turned the match decisively in Djokovic’s favor, he will be encouraged that the match was much more competitive than in Doha and that his form in general is much better than in his highly disappointing 2015 season.

Djokovic’s opponent in Sunday’s final of this ATP World Tour Masters 1000 hard-court event will be big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic, who overcame a second-set hiccup to defeat Belgium’s David Goffin 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 earlier Saturday.

The Serbian ran his career mark against Nadal to 25-23 with Saturday’s victory and will be seeking his 27th Masters title, which would tie him for first place all time with the Spaniard.

The 25-year-old Raonic will be making his third appearance in a Masters final and is seeking his first title. EFE