There will be a familiar pairing in action for the men's singles final at Indian Wells, after both Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer eased themselves past their semi-final opponents, to renew their 'hostilities' on the Tennis court in California. Djokovic seemed to benefit from his day off, after Bernard Tomic pulled out with a back injury in the quarter-finals, to brush aside the challenge from Britain's Andy Murray and looks to be in ominously good form. Federer had a slightly more challenging battle with Canada's Milos Raonic, before clinching his straight sets win.

The 27-year-old Serb seems to have the measure of Murray at present, as he continued on from his victory over the Scot at the Australian Open final earlier this year, taking a convincing 6-2 6-3 success here. The number four seed will hopefully not be developing a complex about it, but that makes it six wins in a row for his rival and 17-8 in total in his favour in their personal head to head. Murray failed to get a foothold in the game, losing his serve on no less than three occasions in the first set and a further break in set two in the second game proved sufficient for the three-time winner to clinch the match. Djokovic was at his clinical best when break points were earned and hard as Murray tried, he just couldn't break his game down.

Murray frequently came under pressure on his serve and as a result struggled, with his first serve percentages not as high as in previous matches at the event.

Federer just had the edge over Rafael Nadal's conqueror in the quarter-finals, Raonic, coming through a close tussle 7-5 6-4. The Canadian was clearly buoyed by his three-set triumph over the clay court master and pushed the number two seed for much of the match, especially during the first set.

Seeded 6 for the tournament, he will be keen to advance that seeding this season if he can and making the semis at the prestigious BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells is a good start. Raonic could not quite match the heroics he had shown against Nadal, where he had lost the first set and saved match points to the Spaniard, before coming through the last-eight epic in a shade under three hours.

Federer almost broke the Canadian's serve in the fifth game, but after that chance came and went, he did finally break to establish a 6-5 lead and served out for the set. Federer than broke again at the start of set two and survived one or two scares later on before clinching the match.

The final will be a repeat of last year's pairing, which the number one seed took in three sets on a final set tie-break, with the organisers and fans hopeful of a similarly close contest this time around. Federer will be looking to avenge that defeat and claim a fifth title at the event. It will be the 38th time that the two players have faced each other in competition, with Federer marginally ahead at 20-17 and having won their last battle in Dubai earlier this year.