Federer awakens in time to book his spot in final
INDIAN WELLS, Riverside County — Roger Federer was on the ropes, down two breaks in the second set and another one in the third. Borna Coric thought he was close to toppling the world’s top-ranked player.
Not so fast. Federer rallied for a 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 victory in the BNP Paribas Open semifinals on Saturday, extending his careerbest start to 17-0 and giving him a chance at a record sixth title.
“I went for my shots. I was not waiting. I made the right choices all the time,” Coric said. “He was just a better player in those specific moments. At the end, he just got through.” Barely. “I should have lost the match,” said Federer, who will meet No. 6 Juan Martin del Potro in Sunday’s final.
The Argentine breezed past No. 32 Milos Raonic of Canada 6-2, 6-3 in 66 minutes for his 10th consecutive match victory and 400th of his career.
Naomi Osaka meets Daria Kasatkina in Sunday’s women’s final.
Federer is 18-6 in his career against del Potro, with two of the losses coming at the U.S. Open, in the 2009 final and last year’s quarterfinals.
“I love to play against him,” Del Potro said. “It will be a good challenge to see how my level is against him.”
Federer rallied from a 5-7, 2-4 deficit to win the final four games of the second set, breaking Coric twice for the first time in the match.
“It didn’t come easy, so I had to go get it,” Federer said. “You need to be match-tough, you need to be confident, have experience, and I think I have a bit of all of that right now, and that’s the reason I won.”
There were five breaks in the third. Federer trailed 4-3 and then broke after two deuces on his way to winning the last three games of the two-hour, 20-minute struggle.
Federer was playing a rare 11 a.m. match; he hadn’t played that early since 2006. It showed as he sprayed errors all over the court.
“Really, I just woke up,” Federer said. “It was early today. I had pasta at 9:15. It was yummy.”