World No. 1 Roger Federer equalled his best start to a season to stay on
course for a sixth Indian Wells title, while Borna Coric brushed aside a
shaky first set to reach the semi-finals. Federer booked his
semi-final spot and extended his season win streak to 16 straight
matches with a 7-5, 6-1 victory over South Korea’s Chung Hyeon on
Thursday. That equals the 16-0 start to the 2006 ATP calendar season. If
he makes it to tomorrow’s final and wins he will reach a career best 17
consecutive wins.
Switzerland’s Federer recalls parts of that streak but not all the
tournaments he played in to get there. “Twelve years ago, a long time
ago. I don’t know. What was I doing back then?” he asked. “I don’t even
remember what tournament I played first up and won. “I guess I had a
similar good start to the year. Back then I was on this massive streak
of winning 30, 40-plus matches. It had already started the year before
that, which this time it didn’t. I had to get it going again in
Australia. It’s a great start. Hopefully I can do one more and beat my
best streak on Saturday.”
Federer put on an impressive display of serving and shot making, winning
70% of his first serve points against Chung. He had just one double
fault and broke Chung’s serve four times in the one hour, 23 minute main
stadium match.
“I’m happy I found a way. I started off really well, struggled
afterwards, found my game back again and was able to protect it, saving
big break points early on in the second set,” Federer said.
“I think that was the key to the match, those 10, 15 minutes where I
broke at the end of the first and then saved break points early in the
second.”
Federer clinched the victory on his second match point when he blasted
his 12th and final ace of the contest. He next faces Croatian Coric who
outlasted seventh seeded Kevin Anderson 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3).
Earlier this year Federer defended his title at the Australian Open,
picking up his 20th Grand Slam win. Last month he claimed his 97th
singles title with a victory in Rotterdam which helped him regain the
world number one ranking and become the oldest No. 1 player in ATP
history. And this victory guarantees he will hold onto the top spot
after Indian Wells. Former world number two Tommy Haas officially
announced his retirement from tennis at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian
Wells on Thursday, ending a career that spanned more than two decades.
The 39-year-old German, a tournament director at the event, announced
his decision in an emotional speech shortly after his close friend Roger
Federer’s quarter-final victory.
“I consider myself extremely fortunate that I was able play professional
tennis for a living for more than two decades,” Haas said to an
appreciative crowd that included retired greats Rod Laver and Pete
Sampras. “The sport gave me cherished friendships, an ability to travel
the world, and opportunities to create incredible memories. It also
taught me a lot about what it means to face challenges, battle back, and
overcome them. To my parents, family, wife and children, thank you for
all the love and support that you gave me over the years. And, to the
fans, thank you for cheering me on throughout my career.”
The German won 15 titles on the ATP Tour, the last two coming in 2013
when he triumphed in Munich and Vienna. He reached a career-high ranking
of number two in 2002 and made a total of 28 final appearances. Haas,
who turned professional in 1996, reached the Australian Open semi-finals
three times — in 1999, 2002 and 2007 — as well as the last-four at
Wimbledon in 2009.
A tough fighter who always bounced back from injury adversity, Haas
underwent a total of nine surgeries in his career and won ATP Comeback
Player of the Year awards in 2004 and 2012.
Haas, who won the silver medal for Germany at the 2000 Sydney Olympics,
finishes his career with 569 wins — the last of which was a memorable
victory over Federer at Stuttgart last year.
Roger Federer of Switzerland celebrates after his win over Hyeon Chung of South Korea by hitting tennis balls into the crowd during the BNP Paribas Open Indian Wells, California, on Thursday. (AFP)