Tuesday 13 March 2018 17:28, UK
Defending champion Roger Federer eased into the fourth round at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells with an authoritative straight-sets victory over Filip Krajinovic.
Federer has to at least reach the semi-finals this week to make sure he retains his world No 1 ranking and, despite losing his serve early in the first set, he outmanoeuvred the Serbian in a 6-2 6-1 victory, which lasted 58 minutes.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion has enjoyed a flawless start to 2018 winning the Australian Open and ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam, and is bidding to claim a record sixth title - his 28th Masters 1000 crown - in the California desert.
"My level was good. Filip's wasn't so good and then things go quickly," Federer, who hit 24 winners, told Sky Sports in his on-court interview.
"He hasn't got the biggest serve out there so you get a lot of looks to break and when you have momentum on your side - not only serving but from the baseline, things go very quickly.
"It was a good match for me - I expected it to be much tougher and I know Filip can play much better so I just tried to stretch the lead and I was able to mix stuff up with the slice, drop shot and the spins and he really struggled today."
The 36-year-old broke the 25th seed in his opening service game only to be broken back immediately, but from 2-2 won seven games on the bounce to take control of proceedings. After securing a fifth break, Federer served out in ruthless fashion against the deflated 26-year-old in their first meeting.
Federer, who defeated Federico Delbonis in the second round, will next face Jeremy Chardy after the world No 100 overcame countryman Adrian Mannarino, world No 23, 7-5 4-6 6-1.
Chardy, who came into the all-French tussle with an unbeaten record against Mannarino from their three previous meetings, edged the opening set before the French No 2 hit back to force a decider and claim his first set against the 31-year-old.
The world No 100, however, responded well and took the initiative with an early break before a Mannarino double fault handed Chardy, who plays at Patrick Mouratoglou's tennis academy, a second break of the final set before he served out for the win.
In other matches, fifth-seeded Dominic Thiem had to retire with an ankle injury while trailing Pablo Cuevas 6-3 4-6 2-4.
Seventh seed Kevin Anderson took down Nicolas Kicker 7-6 (7-1) 7-6 (7-3) and South Korean starlet Hyeon Chung beat Tomas Berdych 6-4 6-4.
Pablo Carreno Busta, the 11th seed, eventually overcame Daniil Medvedev on his fifth match point to secure a 6-1 7-5 win while world No 49 Borna Coric impressed with a 6-1 6-3 victory over 13th seed Roberto Bautista Agut.
American Taylor Fritz enjoyed a comeback victory over Fernando Verdasco 4-6 6-2 7-6 (7-1).
You can watch continued coverage from the ATP Masters 1000 from Indian Wells on Sky Sports Arena and via the red button from 6pm on Tuesday. You can also watch it from 11.15pm on Sky Sports Main Event.
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