Roger Federer took a step forward towards a record sixth Indian Wells Masters title by defeating Hubert Hurkacz in his quarter-final on Friday.
Federer won 6-4, 6-4 in a match that saw his Polish opponent get his set of chances in the second set that he failed to capitalise.
Both players started off well with their serves but Federer broke his Polish opponent in the fifth game of the first set to forge ahead. It was to be his only break-point of the set, one ended up converting.
Any chance of Hurkacz having that break back was quickly dismissed by Federer, who kept holding his serves with the aplomb of a maestro.
It was only in the 10th game that the Federer serve was tested for the first time, needing him two set points before he knocked off the set.
The second set began on a similar note with both players holding their respective opening service games. However, Federer was quick on the money and broke Hurkacz in the third game to take a vital lead in the set.
Things looked like they were going to plan when Hurkacz won his first break-point of the match in the sixth game of the second set. And it looked like the Pole almost had the point but Federer survived with a brilliant lob and served out to go 4-2 ahead.
Hurckacz faced another break-point in the seventh game but managed to hold on and after two more holds, it was down to Federer having to serve it out for the match. He faced a break-point but won three points in a row to win the game, set and match.
In the other quarter-final of the day, Rafael Nadal will take on Karen Khachanov with the winner playing Federer in the semi-final.
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