Roger Federer goes into the final of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Indian Wells. The defending champion dispelled doubts about his physical condition after his exhausting semi-final against Borna Coric.
Fabrice Santoro had reported during the semi-final between Roger Federer and Borna Coric for the broadcasting French TV station that the Swiss player had gone into the match beaten. The lower back area is the Federer’s problem, as it was last summer in Montreal and then especially at the Australian Open. Brad Gilbert was soon able to dispel this suspicion, the former world-class man and coach of Andre Agassi got the information from Federer coach Severin Luethi in the first sentence that everything was in order with his protégé.
After his success, Federer himself explained that he was completely physically fit. What really bothered him was probably the unfamiliar beginning time for him. At 11 o’clock in the morning, the 20-time Grand Slam Champion is otherwise rarely on the court, the change of his daily rhythm was noticeably difficult for Federer. In addition, the defending champion praised his opponent’s outstanding performance.
According to Federer, the main problem he had was understanding Coric’s approach to playing:”He absorbs high speeds without any problems. He’s a great defensive player,” explained the maestro. The match has become more and more a game of cat-and-mouse. Coric surprised him at the beginning with how quickly he had gone on the offensive from the defensive. It didn’t help either that the Croatian didn’t stand much of a chance with his own serve in the first set.
Regardless of the outcome of the final against Juan Martin del Potro (not before 9 pm in our live ticker) Roger Federer will take a detour via Chicago. A promotion event for the second edition of the Laver Cup is scheduled there, as Federer was already the driving force behind the new team competition at the premiere in Prague in September 2017. By the way, as proponent of the “World Team” a man is expected who was not at the start in Indian Wells: Nick Kyrgios.