Novak Djokovic takes on Milos Raonic in Indian Wells final on Sunday night
Sunday 20 March 2016 20:15, UK
Novak Djokovic meets Milos Raonic in the Paribas Open final aiming for a record-breaking fifth Indian Wells title and record-equalling 27th Masters crown.
The world No 1 looked to be ominously moving through the gears in his semi-final victory over Rafa Nadal and a win on Sky Sports on Sunday night will draw him level with the Spaniard's tally of 27 Masters series titles.
It will also take Djokovic clear of Roger Federer with a fifth Indian Wells title - the Serb currently locked on four with the Swiss great.
The opposition will come from Canada's Raonic who has enjoyed a fine week to put injury worries behind him and build on a superb showing in Australia where he lost out to Andy Murray in an epic five-set semi-final - he is chasing a maiden Masters crown and the biggest title of his career.
Experience
Having won his first Indian Wells title in 2008, Djokovic is bidding for a fifth title in the desert and a third in succession having beaten Federer in each of the last two years.
A fifth Australian Open title in January gave him an 11th career Grand Slam title and Djokovic will be playing his 39th Masters final - winning 26 to give him an astonishing win rate of 68 per cent.
In contrast, Raonic is into the Indian Wells final for the first time but made the semi-finals last year where he was beaten in straight sets by Federer.
The Canadian, who has eight career titles under his belt, does have the experience of two previous Masters finals to draw on as he faces the formidable world No 1.
However, Raonic has lost both of his 1000 Series finals, the last coming in 2014 where he was beaten in Paris by Djokovic (6-2 6-3) - his only other final at this level coming in Montreal in 2013 where he went down in straight sets to Nadal.
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Head-to-head
Figures of 5-0 and 13-1 are the scorelines in Djokovic's favour that Raonic will have to overturn in the Californian sunshine if he is to claim the title.
Djokovic has won all five meetings between the pair - although they have not met since the Australian Open quarter-final in 2015, so the world No 1 has not met the Canadian since Raonic has found the consistency that was lacking in the early part of his career.
All five meetings have been high-profile affairs, the first was a Davis Cup semi-final, two have been in Grand Slam quarter-finals and two in Masters events (one final, one semi-final) - but on all occasions the Serb has had the edge.
Indeed Raonic has not taken a set off Djokovic since 2014 when he won the opener of their Rome Masters semi-final - since then it has been ten successive sets for Djokovic.
How they got there
Djokovic has taken his time to get going in California and it seems an age ago that he lost the opening set to American qualifier Bjorn Fratangelo.
But after battling back to win the match for the loss of just three more games, Djokovic has not dropped a set since.
He's been far from his best at times but, as Sky Sports expert Peter Fleming observed in the semi-final win over Nadal, he has found a way to win - the physicality and determination enough to pull him through tight contests against Philip Kohlschreiber and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Arguably his toughest test came against Nadal but after edging a tight opening set, Djokovic played his best tennis of the week to wrap up the victory and set up the date with Raonic.
The Canadian went into the semi-finals as the only player who had not dropped a set but his battle with David Goffin proved to be his toughest battle to date.
Bernard Tomic, Tomas Berdych and Gael Monfils were all seen off in surprisingly comfortable fashion as Raonic made serene progress to the last four where his surprise opponent was Goffin - Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka falling early in the week.
The 25-year-old came through 6-3 3-6 6-3 against Goffin showing all the determination he will need if he is to have to inflict a first Indian Wells final defeat on the formidable world No 1.
You can watch all the action from Indian Wells live on Sky Sports 2 from 8pm or with a NOW TV day pass for £6.99.
