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The fourth seed Roger Federer meets the giant killer Hubert Hurkacz at the quarter-final stage of the 2019 BNP Paribas Open.
Hurkacz has undoubtedly been the surprise package of the tournament. He has got the better of four players, after being considered an underdog against at least three of them.
Having defeated Donald Young in straight sets, he upset the twenty-eighth seed Lucas Pouille in three sets. He followed that up by upstaging the Asian number one, Kei Nishikori, for the second time in two weeks.
He had defeated the Japanese at the Dubai Open, and his repeat act here proved that the Dubai victory was no fluke. During his three-set win over Nishikori, his big serve was one of the major contributors. He won a whopping 84% of his first serve points and served 10 aces during the match.
He was equally impressive in his fourth-round match against the Canadian next-gen star, Denis Shapovalov. It was a keenly contested match and the outcome was decided by a few crucial points. In fact, it was the Canadian who won four more points than the Polish youngster in the match. But to Hurkacz’s credit, he ensured that he stepped up during the big moments, including the crucial first set tie-break.
He may be playing at a very high level right now, but he will perhaps need to raise his level even more if he is to go further, because his quarter-final opponent is the five-time Indian Wells Champion, Roger Federer.
It's been smooth sailing for the Swiss maestro in the tournament so far. He has won all his three matches in straight sets, against Peter Gojowczyk, Stan Wawrinka and Kyle Edmund.
He got off to a fast start against Edmund and pocketed the first set in quick time. He faced some resistance in the second set, but closed the match without ever being put under real pressure. He broke Edmund thrice and did not allow himself to be broken even once. He had an especially good day on serve, as he won nearly 80% of his first serve points.
He certainly goes into the quarter-final as the overwhelming favourite.
Prediction: Roger Federer to win in Straight Sets
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