Roger Federer eases into semis at Indian Wells
Roger Federer delivered a master class as he swept into the semi-finals of the BNP Paribas Open with a ruthless 6-4 6-0 demolition of Czech Tomas Berdych on Friday.
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Indian Wells: Roger Federer delivered a master class as he swept into the semi-finals of the BNP Paribas Open with a ruthless 6-4 6-0 demolition of Czech Tomas Berdych on Friday.
Federer will next meet either Spanish left-hander Rafa Nadal or big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic who were playing later on Friday.
"It was great," a beaming Federer said courtside after improving his career record against Berdych to 13-6. "I was really able to put the pressure on Tomas from the baseline.
"I had the upper hand and I definitely think he didn`t have his best serving day.
"The statistics showed he had a few double faults and not a high enough first-serve percentage and that allowed me to get into many of the baseline rallies. And because I had the upper hand, I was able to control the match."
Ninth-seeded Berdych, whose best run at Indian Wells came in 2013 when he lost to Nadal in the semi-finals, served five double faults and never earned a single break point against the Swiss.
Federer, who had dispatched American Jack Sock 6-3 6-2 in the previous round, broke Berdych in the seventh game of the match, when the Czech netted a backhand after a protracted baseline rally, before taking the opening set in 40 minutes.
The Swiss master dominated the second set with superb all-round tennis against an increasingly error-prone Berdych, who lost serve in the first and third games to go 0-3 down.
Federer again broke the Czech in the fifth, celebrating with a fist pump after crunching a forehand winner down the line, and then served out to book his place in the last four.
World number one Novak Djokovic will face fourth-seeded Scot Andy Murray in Saturday`s other semi in a re-match of this year`s Australian Open final, won by the Serb in four sets.
Djokovic was gifted a spot in the last four at Indian Wells when Australian Bernard Tomic pulled out of their quarter-final on Thursday, citing a back injury, while Murray advanced with a 6-3 6-4 win over Spaniard Felicano Lopez.