By Richard Pagliaro | Wednesday, March 13, 2019
Roger Federer dismissed Kyle Edmund, 6-1, 6-4, advancing to his eighth straight Indian Wells quarterfinal.
Photo credit: BNP Paribas Open Facebook
Shock waves reverberated through the desert yesterday.
Roger Federer delivered declarative restoration day today.
More: Nadal Sweeps Into 11th Indian Wells Quarterfinal
Playing before tennis royalty, Federer flew threw the first five games deconstructing Laver Cup teammate Kyle Edmund, 6-1, 6-4, advancing to his eighth straight Indian Wells quarterfinal.
Federer snapped six aces and saved all seven break points he faced extending his winning streak to eight matches.
The fourth-seeded Swiss surged through a 63-minute victory raising his 2019 record to 11-1 in front of an enthusiastic crowd that included Hall of Famers and friends Rod Laver and Pete Sampras, who each received a massive ovation from fans.
This dynamic drilling came hours after rival Rafael Nadal swept Filip Krajinovic, 6-3, 6-4, roaring into his 11th Indian Wells quarterfinal.
Iconic champions Federer and Nadal are on a collision course for a semifinal blockbuster meeting two years after the Swiss stopped the Spaniard in the BNP Paribas Open round of 16.
The rivals are now one round removed from their 39th career showdown with the reigning Roland Garros champion set to take on Paris Masters champion Karen Khachanov in what could be an electric quarterfinal.
A reunion with Rafa excites Roger.
"Yes, absolutely. I think that's also one of the reasons I'm still in the game is that hopefully when I play the top guys that I'm ready for it," Federer said. "For that, I train hard.
"I'm very happy this week. I hope I can get there, but I'm not going to underestimate Hubert. Rafa looked supreme this week. He clearly also goes in as I favorite against Khachanov, but Khachanov played a good match just now against Isner. I think that's also going to be quite a test for Rafa, but same for me with Hubert. I don't think we're looking too far ahead, to be honest."
Federer came out with a clear game plan today: stretch Edmund with serves to his forehand, attack his backhand and play some shorter, sharper angles to exploit the Briton's forward movement.
The Edmund forehand is a formidable weapon—when the big-hitting Briton has time to set his feet—but Federer shrewdly attacked the world No. 23’s forehand return, which is predicated on a lengthy takeback, to create short-ball opportunities he eliminated effectively.
Empowered by his surge to his 100th career championship in Dubai, Federer has not dropped a set in victories over Peter Gojowczyk, Stan Wawrinka and the 23rd-ranked Edmund, who tuned up for this tournament winning the Indian Wells Challenger title earlier this month.
“I’m feeling great—not feeling any tiredness from Dubai or from whatever I played here,” Federer said. “I haven’t been playing every day. I started all the matches (fast), being in the lead always helps you can play a little more freely…I’m really looking forward to the quarterfinals now.”
The five-time champion wasted no time taking command in his first meeting with the former Australian Open semifinalist. Federer played advisor to Edmund during Laver Cup play in Chicago last September and played authoritatively today.
In his pre-match press conference, Federer called Edmund’s two-handed backhand a “very similar backhand to Murray’s in some ways.” The forehand-favoring Edmund torched a two-hander down the line for a break point in the eighth game.
A flurry of Federer forehands erased the fourth break point the Swiss faced as he surged through holding for 5-3.
Serving for the match, Federer fended off a backhand bolt from Edmund only to see the Briton scoop a forehand pass down the line for double break point. Federer fired a serve winner to save the first then targeted the forehand return again drawing a stretched return for deuce.
Edmund dropped a forehand bomb down the line for a third break point. Federer erased it then won a crackling 15-shot exchange for match point.
Next up for Federer is rising Pole Hubert Hurkacz, who surprised Denis Shapovalov, 7-6 (3), 2-6, 6-3, the day after the Canadian shotmaker stopped Marin Cilic and the tennis world with his post-match rap.
The 67th-ranked Hurkacz has defeated Kei Nishikori in back-to-back tournaments in Dubai and Indian Wells and once warmed Federer in Shanghai making an impression on the Swiss for his unerring style and unfailing politeness.
"I practiced with him; he warmed me up for one of the matches in Shanghai," Federer said. "I remember in the warm-up he barely made any mistakes and any time he did make a mistake he apologized. So he seems like a very sweet guy."