Novak Djokovic advances after Bernard Tomic withdraws

Well, that's one way to advance.

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic pushed on to the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open on Thursday despite not playing in a match. His scheduled opponent, Bernard Tomic, withdrew due to a back injury and tooth pain.

Tomic said that he woke up this morning unable to breathe because of severe pain and inflammation on the right side of his face. He's had problems with that wisdom tooth, to the point where he's going to try and get it removed sometime in the next few weeks. On top of that, he could barely move because of the pain in his back, which has spread down to his hip and groin.

The 22-year-old Australian said that he first injured his back at a tournament in Memphis in early February, but that the aggressive match he played last night, a tough win over Thanasi Kokkinakis, aggravated the pain.

Tomic is on antibiotics for the wisdom tooth pain. At a BNP press conference held Thursday to address his withdrawal, he suggested that those medications could have something to do with his overall low energy levels and how his back feels.

"Maybe if one of those things wasn't there, I could have played," Tomic said. "But having two is not good."

After Thursday's bye, Djokovic will face World No. 4 Andy Murray in the semifinal. The last time those two faced off, the Serb beat Murray at the Australian Open in January for the eighth Grand Slam championship of his career. After winning the tournament in 2008, 2001, and 2014, Djokovic is trying to become the second four-time Indian Wells champion.

Everett Cook writes for the Desert Sun, a Gannett property.