Monday, March 11, 2013

Roger Federer into fourth round at Indian Wells


Second seed Roger Federer was caused few problems by Ivan Dodig as he raced into the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells - but there was a minor scare in the form of some back pain.


Dodig started out well, but once his illustrious opponent had broken there was little fight from the Croatian, ranked 60th in the world, and Federer sprinted to a 6-3 6-1 win in 61 minutes, with a back twinge in the penultimate game doing nothing to slow him down.

"I'm happy with the way im playing," Federer, who had never previously played Dodig, told Sky Sports 2. "I found my way at the end of the first. The beginning of the second I started to play better."

Dodig immediately brought up three break points in the first game of the match, but former world number one Federer won five points in a row to hold.

The set went with serve until game eight, when Dodig handed Federer a set point with a double fault, then threw in a second to surrender the game.

Dodig saved three set points, the first with an exquisite backhand drop shot, but it was fourth time lucky for Federer when his opponent sent a return wide.

That seemed to break the resistance of the Croatian, and Federer broke to open up the second set, then again in game three for a 3-0 lead.

Dodig finally held to get on the board at 4-1, but it was the tiniest flicker of resistance as, in the Croatian's next service game, Federer brought up two match points and another double fault proved decisive.

The only worry for Federer was a slight twinge in his back near the end of the match.

"I felt a little something in my back at the end," he said. "I'll just have to check it out and hopefully I'll be fine for the next match."

Next up for Federer is an all-Swiss clash with his friend and Davis Cup team-mate Stanislas Wawrinka, who overcame a battling Lleyton Hewitt 6-4 7-5.

Wawrinka broke through in game five when he showed good touch at the net, then kept control on his serve to leave Hewitt serving to stay in the set at 5-3.

The Australian held, then forced three break points in the next game, but Wawrinka won five points in a row - with the help of a HawkEye overrule which left Hewitt furious - and took the set 6-4.

The pair traded breaks in the second, but Hewitt could not match his opponent's big shots and the Swiss broke again to take the match.

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