By Richard Pagliaro | Thursday, March 28, 2019
Roger Federer won eight straight games surging past Kevin Anderson, 6-0, 6-4, into his seventh Miami Open semifinal vs. Denis Shapovalov.
Lindsey Godwin/Miami Open
MIAMI—Midway through the opening set, Roger Federer was nose-to-nose with Kevin Anderson at net.
Scraping out successive stab volleys, the 37-year-old Swiss showed the acrobatic body control of a man squeezing through a rapidly-closing revolving door before ending an electric exchange poking a backhand down the line.
More: Shapovalov Stops Tiafoe
A dynamic Federer disarmed the towering South African with drives and dazzle.
Streaking through eight straight games at the start, Federer dismissed Anderson, 6-0, 6-4, charging into his seventh Miami Open semifinal.
The fourth-seeded Swiss will face left-hander Denis Shapovalov for a trip to Sunday’s final.
For the third time this tournament, Shapovalov showed slick shot-making and deep resilience fending off 28th-seeded Frances Tiafoe, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-2, to advance to his third career Masters semifinal.
It will be the first meeting between the Grand Slam king and the 19-year-old Canadian who has been touted as a future Grand Slam champion by Hall of Famer Rod Laver though they have shared the court in the past as practice partners.
"I practiced with Denis way back when when he was...I think he warmed me up for a match in Toronto, I believe, and he came out," Federer said. "He might have been 16, 17, and, you know, similar to today, he was just hitting big. I was, like, Wow, it's unbelievable.
"How old is he? How good is he gonna get? I don't know. But he was very impressive. Same with the serve. He has that beautiful swinger going. You know, it just felt like he belonged there."
Seeing is believing, but the sight of Federer flicking back full-stretch volleys left Anderson looking spooked while spiking a roar from the largest Hard Rock Stadium crowd the tournament has seen so far.
"I think it's great for the fans, you know, to get them engaged," Federer said. "Some places you need to do a lot of great shots to get their attention. Sometimes you don't need much. But these rallies just help to get everybody's attention.
"I think that's a nice thing. Yeah, that was a funny one. I don't know. I haven't played one like this, I feel, for some time. So that was fun."
Moving with the grace and fluidity of his younger years, Federer was in fierce form from the start tonight breaking to start the match and washing a wave of drives that repeatedly backed the big man up behind the baseline.
Last July, the spirited South African fought back from a two-set deficit, denied match point in the third set and competed with defiance in the decider dethroning defending champion Federer 2-6, 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-4, 13-11, to reach his first Wimbledon semifinal.
Playing his first tournament since the Australian Open in January, Anderson was not nearly as sharp in tonight’s rematch. An elbow injury that forced him off the tour for several weeks left the former all American at Illinois short on match play and accuracy. Anderson scattered 30 unforced errors more than doubling Federer’s 12 errors.
The 32-year-old South African’s serve is typically a massive weapon, but Federer varied the depth and angle of his returns, wisely using the chip return to neuter Anderson’s first serve. Federer converted five of 13 break points, while Anderson won just 60 percent of his first-serve points.
Dropping his toss arm and head, Anderson shoveled a double fault into net as Federer broke in the third game then breezed through a strong hold stretching his lead to 4-0 after 19 minutes of play highlighted by that pulsating net exchange.
Coming up short didn’t exactly settle the long-limbed Anderson, looped a wild forehand wide as Federer broke at love for 5-0. At that point, it looked like the 20-time Grand Slam champion could pretty much do whatever he wanted with the ball as he wrapped up the opening set in 26 minutes.
The two-time Grand Slam finalist tried to make a stand denying successive break points to start the second set. Trying to target the Swiss’ one-handed backhand, Anderson paid a steep price as Federer flashed an acute-angled backhand pass for a third break point. When Anderson scattered a backhand long, Federer had his fourth break to start the second set.
Forty-six minutes into the match, Anderson finally got on the scoreboard holding at 15 to snap the Swiss’ streak of eight straight games.
When Federer is in full flow few players aside from the elite can hang at his lofty elevation.
Credit Anderson for hanging tough after a humbling eight games to open. Finding a crack in Federer’s front-court attack, Anderson spun a backhand pass crosscourt for his first break of the night in the sixth game.
The sixth-seeded South African bolted through a love hold—his first love hold in seven service games—to take his first lead at 4-3.
On this night, Federer had all the answers.
During a seven-deuce, 12-minute game, Anderson denied five break points, but an unfazed Federer continued to apply pressure.
On his sixth break point, Federer crashed a return down the line. A scrambling Anderson could not control his running forehand reply as Federer broke for 5-4 an hour, 22 minutes into the match.
Slashing an ace down the middle, Federer earned triple match point and he ended it with a twisting serve wide.
Last month in Dubai, Federer captured his 100th title. He now stands two wins from number 101 and his 28th career Masters crown.
Fifteen years ago, Federer faced rival Rafael Nadal for the first time at the Miami Open. Federer says he's pumped for the prospect of facing another talented teenage shotmaker in Shapovalov.
"It's nice to see that with Stefanos and Denis and that one-handed backhands will be around, because these guys will be very good many, many years from now," Federer said. "And I'm very excited playing against Denis, because I think he's a great guy, and he's one of the great shot makers.
"I still remember watching his game in Montreal, I believe it was, against Rafa when he crushed forehand down-the-line winner after forehand down-the-line winner. It was unbelievable. Yeah, big fan of his game, so it's going to be tough tomorrow."