Swiss legend closes in on sixth title in Californian desert - quarter-final coverage begins on Sky Sports Mix from 8pm
Thursday 15 March 2018 21:51, UK
Roger Federer eased into another Indian Wells Masters quarter-final with a comfortable straight-sets victory over France's Jeremy Chardy.
The world No 1, who completed an Indian Wells and Miami double last year after winning the Australian Open, remained on course for the same again this year as his remarkable renaissance shows no sign of slowing down, even at the age of 36.
Federer won 90% of his service points, winning a remarkable 25 of 25 points on his first serve - and even more remarkably it's the fifth time he has done it in his career.
The Swiss great was too strong for unseeded Frenchman Chardy, Federer needing just 1hr 22mins to wrap up a 7-5, 6-4 success that sees him improve a blemish-free start to the year to 15 victories and still no defeat.
Next up for Federer is South Korea's rising star Hyeon Chung who defeated 30th seeded Pablo Cuevas 6-1 6-3 earlier on Wednesday and a win for the 20-time Grand Slam champion will see him equal his best ever start to a season (16-0).
Chung, who reached the Australian Open semi-finals in January, continued his growing pedigree within the game after a dominant display to secure his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 quarter-final spot.
The South Korean world No 26 won 11 of the opening 12 games to move within a game of victory but the Uruguayan veteran saved seven match points in the sixth game to secure the first of two breaks before Chung eventually secured the win.
Borna Coric progressed to his first Indian Wells quarter-final with a determined 6-2 6-7(6-8) 6-4 victory over American home favourite Taylor Fritz in windy conditions.
The 21-year-old Croatian, world No 49, started strongly but was pushed to a deciding third set only to recover from an early break deficit and clinch victory with his fifth break of the contest.
Next up Coric will face Kevin Anderson after the big-serving South African, up to a career-high ninth in the world rankings, remaining on course for a maiden Masters title by coming from a set down to beat Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta.
It's a ninth 1000 Series quarter-final for Anderson who has never been beyond the last eight at this level but with 15 wins and just three defeats so far this season, the US Open runner-up is enjoying the best and most consistent form of his career.
Philipp Kohlschreiber backed up his impressive victory over second seed Marin Cilic on Tuesday with a 6-4 7-6 (7-1) win over Pierre-Hugues Herbert.
Next up for the German is Juan Martin del Potro, the 2009 US Open champion battling back from a set down to beat fellow Argentine Leonardo Mayer to reach his first quarter-final in the desert since a runners-up finish to Rafael Nadal in 2013.
Sam Querrey will meet Milos Raonic in the final quarter-final after Querrey dispatched Feliciano Lopez 6-3 6-4 and Raonic was handed a walkover after Marcos Baghdatis was forced to withdraw
You can watch the ATP Masters 1000 from Indian Wells on Sky Sports Mix and Sky Sports Arena via the red button from 8pm on Thursday.
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