Roger Federer wins 17th straight match for best-ever start to a season and place in Indian Wells final

The world number one, who has won the Australian Open and the Rotterdam Open, took his record to 17-0 for 2018

Sunday 18 March 2018 11:08 GMT
Comments
Roger Federer is into the Indian Wells final once again
Roger Federer is into the Indian Wells final once again (Getty)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Roger Federer recorded his best ever start to a calendar year after overcoming adversity to beat Borna Coric in Indian Wells.

The world number one, who has won the Australian Open and the Rotterdam Open, took his record to 17-0 for 2018, the longest winning start to a year in his glittering career.

It looked like he would end that run just one short of his previous best as Coric was two games away from a stunning upset, but Federer showed his winning instinct and came back to win 5-7 6-4 6-4 and reach the final of the BNP Paribas Open.

Coric, who beat Andy Murray in Madrid last year, is tipped for the top and won the final three games of the first set to take an impressive lead.

Things got even better when he broke in the opening game of the second set and then held to get to a 4-2 lead.

But Federer kicked into survival mode and reeled off four games in a row to level up at 1-1.

And after the pair exchanged early breaks, Federer made another decisive break at 5-4 in the final set to keep on course to defend his title against Juan Martin del Potro.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in