Fish (above), who had never beaten Federer in five previous meetings, outplayed the Swiss in a match lasting just over an hour. -- PHOTO: AFP

Fish, who had never beaten Federer in five previous meetings, outplayed the Swiss in a match lasting just over an hour to book a place in Sunday's final against third-seeded Serb Novak Djokovic.

Ranked 98th in the world, Fish set the tone for the biggest win of his career by breaking Federer in the second game before sweeping through the opening set in 34 minutes.

With the 26-year-old Federer strangely out-of-sorts and Fish in prime form, the American again broke in the first and fifth games of the second before serving out to secure victory in the eighth.

Rafael Nadal's Pacific Life Open title defence came to an abrupt halt in Saturday's semi-final when he lost 6-3, 6-2 to Serb Novak Djokovic.

Australian Open champion Djokovic, 20, broke the Spaniard twice in each set to seal victory in one hour 28 minutes at Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

The third seed next meets world American Mardy Fish.

In a rematch of last year's final, second-seeded Nadal broke in the third game of the opening set when Djokovic hit a forehand long but the Serb broke back to level at 2-2.

Djokovic also broke in the eighth game with a favourable net cord bounce to lead 5-3 before holding serve to wrap up the first set in 41 minutes on a sun-drenched afternoon in the California desert.

Djokovic grabbed the initiative in the second by breaking in the fifth game when an ambitious forehand by the Spaniard flew wide.

A protracted seventh game featuring several rallies of high quality finally ended in another break by the Serb when Nadal netted a poor attempt at a drop shot to trail 5-2.

Djokovic calmly served out to seal victory before raising his right arm skywards to pump the air in celebration. -- REUTERS