INDIAN WELLS, Calif. - Novak Djokovic beat John Isner 7-5, 6-7 (2), 6-1 on Saturday to reach the final of the BNP Paribas Open, where hell resume his longtime rivalry with Roger Federer. "Its always tense. Its always emotional. Its always close," Djokovic said of the looming match up. "I look forward to it." Federer had a much easier time in the semifinals, beating Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine 6-3, 6-1 and putting himself in position to win a fifth career title at Indian Wells. Djokovic is a two-time winner here. Federer leads their rivalry 17-15, having beaten Djokovic two weeks ago in the semifinals at Dubai. Before that, Djokovic had won three straight times over the Swiss star. Second-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska will play Flavia Pennetta in the womens final Sunday before the mens title is decided. Djokovic struggled with the big-serving Isner, who beat him here in the semis two years ago before losing to Federer in the final. "With that serve, obviously, he can win against anybody on a good day," Djokovic said. "I thought I returned really well today and allowed myself to have a bunch of opportunities on his service games." Djokovic had a chance to win in two sets, breaking Isner to go up 5-4 and then again at 6-5. But the American broke back at love to level at 6-6, then and then dominated in the tiebreaker. Isner won four straight points and served his sixth ace to win it 7-2 and force the decisive third set. "When you get to the tiebreaker with John Isner, whoever you are, youre not a favourite," Djokovic said. "I just tried to hang in there, stay mentally tough when I lost the second set, and played a great third." Djokovic broke Isner for a 3-1 lead in the third. Djokovic survived a break point in the next game and held for a 4-1 lead. Isner called for the trainer a second time in the match to work on an area above his left knee before he got broken to trail 5-1, missing two straight forehands. Djokovic came up with his own big serve on match point that Isner couldnt return. "It prevented me from being able to go after my serve like I wanted to, but thats not the reason I lost," Isner said about having tightness in his knee. "I am disappointed, but at the same time, I had a good week here." Isner had eight aces to Djokovics seven, and the American managed 31 winners, just one more than Djokovic. While Djokovic had to sweat out his victory, Federer was coolly efficient on the hot day in the desert, firing seven aces and connecting on 72 per cent of his first serves in the match that lasted barely an hour. "Having the fire and wanting to win every single match and in the practice trying to improve as much as you can, Ive got the good balance right now, so its very encouraging," Federer said. Federer never faced a break point on his serve while breaking Dolgopolov four times, including a seven-deuce game to go up 4-1 in the second set. Dolgopolov had a chance to win that game four times, but each time his unforced error brought it back to deuce. Federer is aiming to make Indian Wells his second title of the year. Hes coming off a victory two weeks ago at Dubai, and has a 19-2 match record this year. He won titles here from 2004-06 and again in 2012. A year ago at Indian Wells, Federer injured his back during a match and took nearly a month to feel better. After Wimbledon, he re-injured his back and found himself questioning everything, leading to an uneven year for the sports once dominant player. Back here again, Federer feels like a new man. "Im just playing more freely overall and with more confidence because I can get to more balls without thinking," he said. "I can wake up without feeling sore. I can go to bed not feeling like I hope I feel better tomorrow. I dont have these thoughts going through my mind and Im not worried every single minute of the day." 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Bryant, who signed a five-year, $34 million contract as a free agent with Cleveland in March, reported symptoms on Monday morning, a team spokesman said.(SportsNetwork.com) - The Toronto Maple Leafs were red-hot the last time they faced the Carolina Hurricanes, but a lot has changed in the month that has passed since. The struggling Leafs try to bounce back from a horrid road trip on Monday evening when they host the Hurricanes. Toronto had won six in a row before suffering a 4-1 loss at Carolina on Dec. 18. That setback came at the beginning of a current 3-12-0 rut for the Leafs, who have fired head coach Randy Carlyle over this span while falling seven points back of a wild card spot. The Maple Leafs, who have been guided by interim coach Peter Horachek in the six games since Carlyle was fired, were shut out three times and held to one goal on a recent 0-4-0 road trip, capping the swing with Saturdays 3-0 loss to the St. Louis Blues. Jonathan Bernier allowed three goals on 33 shots in the road trips finale, one that left the morale of the team awful according to captain Dion Phaneuf. It feels absolutely terrible, the defenseman said. I dont know what more I can say than when you go through stretches like this, its awful. The Hurricanes have 12 feewer points than the Leafs, but have gone 5-2-1 in January and picked up a 3-2 win over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.dddddddddddd Nathan Gerbe had the winning goal with 5:41 to play, snapping a 22-game goal drought with his first tally since Nov. 28. Justin Faulk had a goal and an assist and Brad Malone also scored for the Hurricanes, while Anton Khudobin stopped 30 shots in the win. It was a good effort, said Carolina head coach Bill Peters. Everyone played good, valuable minutes and we found a way. Carolina kept Ottawa off the scoreboard on all three of its power-play chances and the Hurricanes have now killed off 33 straight power plays over a 13-game span. The Hurricanes got short-handed goals from Faulk and Chris Terry in the win over the Maple Leafs a month ago, with Cam Ward making 25 saves. He is 15-9-2 versus the Maple Leafs with a 2.73 goals against average and .910 save percentage. Phaneuf scored and Bernier made 33 saves as he fell to 2-3-0 versus the Canes with a 2.64 GAA and .923 save percentage. Carolina has won seven of nine and 13 of its past 18 versus Toronto. ' ' '