18 Mar 2012

Isner aces Djokovic out of Indian Wells

11:17 am on 18 March 2012

There's been a big upset in the semi-finals of the Indian Wells tennis tournament in California.

Big-serving American 11th-seed John Isner overpowered world number one Novak Djokovic of Serbia to reach the final with a 7-6 3-6 7-6 upset in the last four.

The 26-year-old American blasted a total of 20 aces past the top-seeded Serb, the last of them a 135 kph serve to clinch the final-set tiebreak 7-5 and end the match after two hours, 45 minutes.

Isner's reward is a final against either Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal, who meet in a mouthwatering matchup shortly.

The three-times champion Federer booked his place in the semi-finals with a ruthless 6-3 6-2 victory over big-serving Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina while twice winner Nadal fought back to beat David Nalbandian, also of Argentina, 4-6 7-5 6-4.