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Federer equals season-best start to reach Indian Wells semi-final

Posted: Mar 16, 2018

World number one Roger Federer equalled his best start to a season when he beat South Korea’s Chung Hyeon to reach the Indian Wells Masters semi-final.

The defending champion claimed his 16th victory of 2018 with a 7-5 6-1 win over the world number 26 in California.

The Swiss has matched the start he made to the 2006 season, where he went on to win 33 of his first 34 matches.

He faces Borna Coric in the last four after the Croat beat South Africa’s Kevin Anderson 2-6 6-4 7-6 (7-3).

Federer, searching for a record sixth title, broke Chung’s serve four times as he won in one hour 23 minutes.

He won 70% of points on his first serve and hit 12 aces to beat Chung for the second time this season.

The win ensures that Federer will remain number one after the tournament is finished, while Chung will surpass Kei Nishikori as the highest-ranked Asian player.

Federer reached the final of all four Grand Slams in 2006, winning three and only losing the French Open to Rafael Nadal in four sets.

He also won four ATP Masters titles and ended the year with a win loss record of 92-5.

Following the match, Indian Wells tournament director Tommy Haas announced his retirement from the ATP Tour.

The German, who won 15 singles titles, finished eight seasons ranked in the top 20.

“The sport gave me cherished friendships, an ability to travel the world, and opportunities to create incredible memories,” the 39-year-old said.

Analysis

BBC tennis correspondent Russell Fuller

Unlike their Australian Open semi-final, from which Chung was forced to retire with a nasty blister, this was a proper contest – but only for the first hour.

Federer took the first set on a cool and blustery desert night, and then had to save four break points in the opening game of the second. After that, it was much more straightforward for the champion.

He is now guaranteed to hold on to the world number one ranking until at least the end of the Miami Open, which finishes on 1 April.

Pete Sampras, winner of 14 Grand Slam titles between 1990-2002, is rarely seen at tennis events these days, but made an exception for Federer as he made the journey from his Los Angeles home.

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Zeballos/Cuevas Reach Indian Wells Doubles SFs

Mar162018

Pablo Cuevas and Horacio Zeballos nullified the serving threat of Gilles Muller and Sam Querrey for a 6-4, 6-4 win in 73 minutes on Thursday at the BNP Paribas Open. The Uruguayan-Argentinean duo will next face two-time former champions and seventh seeds Bob and Mike Bryan in the semi-finals. Cuevas has won two Masters 1000 doubles titles at the 2015 Internazionali BNL d’Italia (w/Marrero) and last year’s Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters (w/Bopanna).

Elsewhere, Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic moved one step away from reaching their first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final. The in-form third seeds saved all six break points they faced to knock out Spaniards Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez 6-4, 6-4 in 74 minutes. The Austrian-Croatian team broke serve in the third game of each set.

Off to a 21-2 start on the year – including a 17-match winning streak that included three titles from four finals, Marach and Pavic will next challenge Americans John Isner and Jack Sock in Friday’s semi-finals. Sock won the 2015 crown with Canada’s Vasek Pospisil.

Marach and Pavic won three straight trophies at start of the 2018 season – at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open (d. Murray/Soares), the ASB Classic (d. Mirnyi/Oswald) and the Australian Open (d. Cabal-Farah). Their 17-match winning streak ended in the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament final (l. to Herbert-Mahut).

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Resilient Coric Comes Through In The Clutch Again

Mar152018

Croatian through to his maiden Masters 1000 SF

Borna Coric was down and it looked as if he’d soon be out. The 21-year-old Croatian, who had never beaten Kevin Anderson before Thursday, double faulted to lose his serve and go down 2-4 in the third set of their BNP Paribas Open quarter-final.

Until that point, Anderson had been broken only two times in the tournament, and two more holds would have him in his maiden ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semi-final.

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But Coric remained solid and immediately broke back, and in the third set tie-break, the rising star kept up a trend that has propelled him to his first Masters 1000 semi-final this week in Indian Wells. Coric won his second third-set tie-break of the tournament to advance 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(3). The right-hander has now won 11 of his past 12 deciding-set tie-breaks.

In the semi-final, he will next meet top seed and unbeaten Roger Federer or 2017 Next Gen ATP Finals Hyeon Chung in a rematch of their Australian Open semi-final, in which Chung had to retire in the second set because of blisters.

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All signs pointed to Anderson clinching his spot in the last four of the BNP Paribas Open. The right-hander, No. 9 in the ATP Rankings, had beaten Coric in all three of their FedEx ATP Head2Head matchups, and coming into the quarter-final, Anderson had won 97 per cent of his service games in Indian Wells (38/39).

But Coric, who changed his entire team last year and is now working with Riccardo Piatti and Kristijan Schneider, played confidently and never sulked against the big-serving South African. After losing the first set in only 31 minutes, Coric broke to start the second set and fought off the only break point he faced.

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The third set was back and forth before Anderson lifted another forehand long on match point, and Coric crouched near the ground and screamed at his box in jubilation. Anderson, meanwhile, fell to 0-9 in Masters 1000 quarter-finals.

Indian Wells: Simona Halep beats Petra Martic in three sets to reach semi-finals

Posted: Mar 15, 2018

World number one Simona Halep overcame Croatia’s Petra Martic in three sets to reach the semi-finals of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.

Playing in gusty winds, the Romanian beat the world number 50 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 in two hours and 23 minutes.

“I don’t remember such difficult wind and to feel that tough to play a game,” Halep said.

She will face Naomi Osaka next after the Japanese world number 44 stunned Karolina Pliskova 6-2 6-3.

Osaka won 92% of points on her first serve and won the final four games to beat former world number one Pliskova in one hour and 20 minutes.

The victory was Osaka’s first over a top-five player in 2018 – the 20-year-old has already beaten Maria Sharapova and Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska in California.

However, Osaka has not beaten Halep in three attempts, with Halep claiming a 6-3 6-2 in their last meeting at the Australian Open in January.

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Bryans Record 40th Match Win In Indian Wells, Into SFs

Mar152018

Two-time former champions join Isner and Sock in semi-finals

Two-time former champions Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan recorded their 40th match win at the BNP Paribas Open (40-16) on Wednesday for a place in the semi-finals.

The seventh-seeded American twins were made to work for their 7-5, 6-1 victory over Marcus Daniell and Diego Schwartzman, saving nine of 10 break points in the 65-minute encounter. The Bryans initially recovered from a 1-3 deficit and from 5-5 in the first set they won seven straight games.

The Bryans, who will next meet Pablo Cuevas and Horacio Zeballos or Gilles Muller and Sam Querrey, lifted the Indian Wells title in 2013 (d. Huey/Janowicz) and 2014 (d. Peya/Soares). They have a 36-18 record in ATP World Tour Masters 1000 finals.

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In a match that didn’t feature a service break, fellow Americans John Isner and Jack Sock knocked out eighth seeds Ivan Dodig and Rajeev Ram 7-6(2), 7-6(2) in one hour and 37 minutes. Isner and Sock won six straight points to clinch the first set tie-break and five successive points in the second set tie-break to earn their semi-final berth.

They will now prepare to face third seeds Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic or Spaniards Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez. Sock captured the 2015 crown with Vasek Pospisil (d. Bolelli/Fognini).

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