Top seed Roger Federer extended his 2018 unbeaten streak to 18 matches as he breezed past rising South Korean star Hyeon Chung 7-5, 6-1 in the quarterfinals of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells on Thursday.
Federer, who became the oldest No. 1 in tennis history last month, will retain his top spot in the world rankings. The Swiss maestro, who is the defending champion in the Californian desert, needed to reach at least the semifinals to maintain his status as the top ranked player ahead of his arch-rival Rafael Nadal.
Federer was off to a flier, breaking Chung in the second game and subsequently holding his serve comfortably to take a 3-0 lead in the opening set. Federer was dominant from the outset and Chung was unable to find answers to the 36-year-old’s onslaught.
However, Chung managed to turn it around beautifully as he engineered a break and after 24 minutes of play, he leveled the match at 3 games apiece. But, Chung’s fight back ended soon after as the 20-time Grand Slam champion found an extra gear to break his opponent in the 12th game to claim the first set 7-5.
Things quickly slipped away from Chung in the second set as Federer got the early break to grab a commanding 4-1 lead. Chung then gifted Federer another break of serve in the next game as he double faulted on break point. Federer produced another game of magnificent tennis to wrap up an easy win in an hour and 23 minutes.
Federer, a five-time Indian Wells winner, will meet the Croatian Borna Coric for a place in Sunday’s final. Coric stunned seventh seeded Kevin Anderson 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 to set up his date with Federer in Saturday’s semifinals.
Federer was asked about his upcoming contest with Coric and the reigning champion gave an unexpected and hilarious reply.
“I think it’s going to be a day session so depending on how much wind there is going to be I’m either going to be playing the wind or I’m going to be playing Borna,” Federer said.
“We will see what happens there.
“He is a very steady baseliner – similar to Chung.
“He is also young and these guys are the future of tennis.
“He is a great mover as well. He has all the confidence in the world right now so it is going to be tough.
“I have played him once before and I did very well against him so something similar would be nice.”
