Roger Federer eased his way past a resilient Hubert Hurkacz 6-4 6-4 to reach the Indian Wells semi-finals.
A couple of clinical breaks was enough to seal Federer’s place in the semi-finals against Hurkacz, who was only in his second ATP Quarter-Final.
The 73 minute win means that the 37 year-old continues to shine in the Californian desert as he reaches the last four in Indian Wells.
It also could mean that Roger Federer could face his rival Rafael Nadal yet again as the Spaniard takes on Karen Khachanov later today.
Having reached his first ever Masters 1000 quarter-final, Hurkacz showed no signs of early nerves as he held serve fairly comfortably in the early exchanges.
A practice session in Shanghai last year meant that Federer knew a little bit about the Pole and used his first two service games to find some rhythm.
Eventually the 20 time grand slam champion stepped up in gears and earned the break in the fifth game after a few unforced errors from Hurkacz.
Some good net play saw the 22 year-old try to rally back and some improvisation certainly help lift the crowd, who may have never seen him play before.
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In the end though Federer wrapped up the first set in 31 minutes on his second set point. The second set started in similar fashion as an easy game on paper proved difficult from Federer.
After earning a break point, Federer once again showed his clinical edge to get the early break in the third game. However Federer didn’t get everything his own way as Hurkacz started to create a couple of break point opportunities.
The lack of experience showed though as the Pole missed a couple of easy shots as he couldn’t break down the Federer barrier.
In the end Federer’s class told as he converted his first match point to book his place in the last four at Indian Wells.
After the match the fourth seed praised the Pole for his performance and looked ahead to a possible Nadal showdown, “It was very tough. I see what Hubert has that made him beat other great guys,” Federer explained. “A Fedal match is probably more exciting for the fans than for Rafa and me. But it’s still a big thing for the tour.”
A great week by Hurkacz who continues his rise and will climb to 53 in the world after wins over the likes of Kei Nishikori and Denis Shapovalov.
However it’s Federer who will meet either Karen Khachanov or Rafael Nadal in tomorrow’s semi-finals.
