POWER ROGER
FEDERER DRUBS NADAL ANEW AT INDIAN WELLS
Roger Federer defeated Rafael Nadal 6-2, 6-3 at the BNP Paribas Open on Wednesday in a fourthround match that saw the longtime rivals meeting much earlier in a tournament than usual.
Federer broke Nadal four times in advancing to the quarterfinals in 68 minutes. Although Nadal owns a 23-13 lead in their series, Federer has won three in a row for the first time, including an epic comeback in the Australian Open final two months ago at age 35.
“It’s a nice feeling to win the last three,” he said. “But most importantly, I won Australia. That was big for me.”
Federer broke Nadal to open the match in front of a packed Stadium 1 crowd. Federer faced just one break point on his serve in the match, but he recovered with a big serve and two winning backhands to go up 2-0 in the first set.
“The main thing he take the break in the first game, and I had break point in the next game and come back and he had a good serve,” Nadal said. “When Roger has the advantage, his serve is so good, he has a lot of confidence with his serve, he’s able to play much more relaxed.”
Nadal wasn’t too shabby either, serving three love games. But Federer’s shotmaking was superb, frequently kissing the lines off both sides.
The four-time Indian Wells winner was crafty, too. Leading 5-1, Federer moved in quickly on Nadal’s second serve, surprising the Spaniard, whose forehand sailed long. Federer’s drop shots were well-timed and even when a scrambling Nadal got to them in time, Federer answered with one of his 26 winners.
“When you serve well and stay on the offensive and you press, you can actually play some really good, aggressive tennis here,” Federer said.
The two superstars hadn’t played each other before the quarterfinals of an event since 2004 when they met in the third round at Miami. /
That felt good to kind of prove it wasn’t a one-off thing. I competed for every point. It was hot out there. We played for two hours. It was just a good, honest win. NICK KYRGIOS On his first serves, to try to anticipate and read his serve, where he’s going to go 140 miles per hour down the T and also pretty good angle wide, it’s hard to position yourself well. NOVAK DJOKOVIC