Roger Federer plays rising teenage star Ryan Harrison in the last sixteen of the BNP Paribas Open.
The talk was all about Novak Djokovic and his blistering form when Federer took to the court on Tuesday for his third round clash against Juan Ignacio Chela. Not to be outdone Federer swept aside the veteran Argentine 6-0, 6-2 in less than an hour to set up today's highly anticipated match against Harrison, a player widely regarded as a star of the future.
“Clearly with a result like this, especially on a hot day like that, you pick the right days to play well and win quickly, so I'm happy it went so well today,” Federer said. “Opening first couple of games were kind of tough. I was able to move him around, I thought. Then I was able to mix it up, and I think I took his options away a bit. And then obviously his serve kind of went away and I was able to find a way to outmanoeuvre him."
Harrison hit the headlines with a thrilling 7-6, 4-6, 6-4 win over Milos Raonic in the battle of the young guns. Raonic had plenty of support from a large contingent of Canadian fans but Harrison remained impressively unfazed. Harrison drew a lot of confidence from previous wins over Raonic in the juniors and the teenager is enjoying the best week of his career.
It will be interesting to see how Harrison reacts to taking on one of the legends of the game in a big stadium. He has the weapons to hurt Federer, 130mph serves and a good all-round game but Federer's vast experience should see him safely negotiate this hurdle in two sets.
