By Chris Oddo | Saturday, March 21, 2015
Roger Federer was tactically and technically superior to Milos Raonic in taking down the Canadian in two tight sets to reach the Indian Wells final.
Photo Source: Julian Finney/Getty
Roger Federer won for the ninth time in ten clashes with hard-serving Canadian Milos Raonic on Saturday at the BNP Paribas Open, 7-5, 6-4, to set up a dream final with his longtime rival and current world No. 1 Novak Djokovic.
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The 33-year-old Federer is bidding for his record fifth title at Indian Wells, and his 24th at the Masters 1000 level.
“I'm very happy how well I'm playing,” Federer told reporters after the match. “Feel good physically. Obviously I feel refreshed after the holiday. I'm serving well, which is always crucial.”
Under a bright California sun, with the likes of pop star Gwen Stefani and hockey legend Wayne Gretzky looking on, Federer and Raonic traded big serves and big blows until Federer finally found a way to draw first blood.
Using the familiar tactic of luring the taller, less nimble Raonic into net to take him out of his comfort zone, Federer executed to perfection on his fourth break point of the set. Sprinkling a ground-hugging backhand slice just beyond the service line, Federer drew a backhand error from Raonic to break serve in the eleventh game.
Moments later, the four-time Indian Wells champion cracked a clean forehand winner, one of 17 winners on the day, to hold to love and take the set.
Federer made the momentum work in his favor in the first game of his second set, as he carved back-to-back backhand winners to earn another break. Though Raonic repeatedly attempted to pepper the Federer backhand, the Swiss was tidy with the shot all day.
“Today I thought he was very clean with it, very methodical, and he used that to his advantage, sort of knowing that's where I would go on the important moments,” Raonic said of the Federer backhand. “That's the side I tried to sort of get through him on.”
Though Federer stayed in front with pinpoint serving, Raonic did earn a break point while trailing 2-1, which was quickly snuffed out by one of Federer’s five aces on the day.
The Canadian got to 0-30 with Federer serving for the match, but after Raonic missed a makeable forehand winner attempt on the next point, Federer ran off the final three points, closing affairs with a forehand volley winner that eluded the running Raonic at the 86-minute mark.
After the match, the Swiss maestro found a special someone waiting to meet him in the locker room:
Federer will now look ahead to a rematch of last year’s final with world No. 1 Novak Djokovic. The pair will meet for the 38th time with Federer currently holding a 20-17 edge.
“I think last year's final was great,” said Federer. “I think we both played very well. Came down to the wire. Didn't get off to a good start to the breaker, I think, and then he ran away with it.”
Federer fell in a third-set tiebreaker at Indian Wells last season, but has since won three of four matches against the Serb, dropping only last year’s Wimbledon final in five sets. Still, Federer admits that he’s up against one of the best hard court players in the history of the game, in his prime.
“He's tough, as we know,” he said. “He barely misses. He moves great. He makes you go for the extra shot. This is one of the great hard court players we have seen, you know, in tennis.”
Notes, Tweets, Numbers
In Federer’s 15th BNP Paribas Open appearance, he improved to 52-10 and is the all-time leader at the event.
Though Raonic is one of two players born in the 1990’s, Federer improved to 34-2 against players born in that decade.
Raonic has reached the quarterfinals or better at 8 of his last 10 Masters 1000 events.