Home

Federer beats unseeded Borna Coric

Reading Time: 2 minutes

World number one, Roger Federer, beat unseeded Borna Coric 5-7 6-4 6-4 to set up a BNP Paribas Masters tennis tournament final with Juan Martin del Potro in California.

Federer will win a record sixth Indian Wells title if he can beat the Argentine who got the better of him in the US Open quarter-finals in September.

Del Potro cruised to a 6-2 6-3 win over Milos Raonic in another semi-final.

An upset was on the cards when the speedy Coric used his ferocious backhand to take the first set off the Swiss.

But Federer rallied back in the second set winning it to level the match one-set apiece when Coric’s return went long.

Despite playing below his usual standards, the 20-times grand slam champion was able to find his his serving rhythm and win the biggest points of the match.

The partisan crowd erupted when Federer broke Coric at love to take the deciding set and end the unexpectedly competitive two hour twenty minute battle against the 21-year-old Croatian.

Thirty six-year-old Federer improved to 17 wins without a loss for the year, his best ever start to a season.

Del Potro’s one-sided win lacked the drama as Canadian Raonic put up little fight against the Argentine’s powerful serve and punishing forehand.

Victory was the 400th of 29-year-old Del Potro’s career, which has been interrupted by four wrist surgeries.

Author

MOST READ