Roger Federer moves into quarters on a day of upsets at BNP Paribas Open

INDIAN WELLS — With all the upsets in the BNP Paribas Open, it was even hard for four-time champion Roger Federer to even keep up.


Federer advanced to his eighth quarterfinals at the BNP Paribas Open following his 6-4, 6-4 victory over Tommy Haas.


But to say Federer was expected to advance might have been a stretch. Only two of the tournament’s top nine seeds still remain. Federer was expected to play Australian Open champion and good friend Stanislas Wawrinka in Thursday’s quarterfinal, but Kevin Anderson upset the No. 3 seed just before Federer stepped on court.


It seemed to throw Federer off in his post-match press conference


“I do play Anderson, I guess, right?” Federer said, drawing laughter from the media. “Maybe I am insecure now where I am in the draw. Stan’s not around.”


Coming into the tournament, Federer’s half of the draw looked stacked with No. 1 Rafael Nadal, Wimbledon champion Andy Murray, former U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro, and Wawrinka.


The other quarterfinal in Federer’s half of the draw is between Alexandr Dolgopolov and Milos Raonic.


“A lot of the guys in the top 8 have lost, which is unusual,” Federer said. “But then again, it’s the first Masters 1000 of the year. For some it’s still maybe early in the season, and then some other guys play really well. I think the guys who won against those big guys play very well, and it just happened that it all came together here.”


Federer was happy to get past the veteran Haas, who at 36 is one of the few opponents who is older than Federer.


“He’s very good. Yeah, not pretty good,” Federer said. “What I like about Tommy is just his intensity he brings to the court. Every shot he hits, it’s with a purpose, it’s with an idea.”


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