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Federer, Nadal Advance - Will Square Off At Indian Wells

Mar 15th 2017

Andy Murray was eliminated earlier at Indian Wells but the remainder of the iconic “Big Four” have advanced into the star-studded final 16 of the BNP Paribas Open.  And with Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer winning on Tuesday, two of those four will meet in a rematch of the classic Australian Open Final in the California desert on Wednesday.

In an early match, it was Nadal defeating fellow countryman Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 7-5. It was the second time in as many years that Nadal has eliminated Verdasco at Indian Wells.

Rafael Nadal

In a strong effort, Nadal handled the hot conditions and unique bounce from the Indian Wells surface as he struck first, breaking serve late in the opening set to gain a 5-3 advantage. He consolidated that break and closed out the set.

He would waste little time in the second set in breaking Verdasco’s serve to gain an edge. And, though, Verdasco would fight back, he struggled with his serve, donating seven double faults.  Nadal won 80 percent of his first-serve points and broke his friend three times which was all he would need.

Nadal was happy with his play afterward, “I played a solid match. Very aggressive with my serve, serving well, hitting good forehands, good backhands”, he said. “Very happy. I think I played much better today than the first day.”

Meanwhile, in the evening session, it took two tiebreaks but Roger Federer got past American Steve Johnson 7-6, 7-6.

Roger Federer

In a match that was separated by just a handful of points, and neither player losing their serve, Federer was slightly more consistent in the big points. And despite both making some uncharacteristic errors in the tiebreaks, Federer was solid enough to advance.

Federer won 41 of his 47 first-serve points and ripped 12 aces during the match.

With the results, the Federer-Nadal rivalry will resume for the 36th time. Nadal holds a 23-12 head-to-head record against the Swiss but Federer took the epic Australian Open final earlier in the year, in their last meeting. He has won their last two matches. The two have combined for 32 grand slam titles with Federer owning 18 while Nadal has 14.

The two will meet in the round-of-16, which is uncharacteristically early compared to past meetings. “Because it’s early in the tournament, I think we both don’t quite yet know to 100 percent how everything feels,” Federer said. “There is a bit of the unknown, which is exciting maybe for the fans to see how we’re going to try to figure that part out.”

The two legends will meet on Wednesday night.