Much had been made of the fact that Jeremy Chardy beat Roger Federer once. Once. That’s what we’ve come to. The Frenchman got the best of the current World #1 back in 2014 on clay. And that was supposed to mean this 4th round match at Indian Wells could be a fight.
Not even close.
On a day of swirling wind, Federer won 100% of his first serve points on his way to a 7-5, 6-4 win over Chardy.
The “GOAT” had his spot serve working so well that he dominated on second serve points as well, winning 79% to only 38% for Chardy–a player known to have an excellent serve. But Federer’s serve was so bang-on that the World #100 never even got a sniff at a break point.
Federer only lost five total points on his serve all match.
On return, Federer changed up his return position, he said, in part because of the swirling winds. The Swiss superstar rarely backs up to return, but he did so today because wind gusts at times reached 30 mph in the desert of Indian Wells.
But the defending champion’s experience playing here made the conditions none too difficult.
The top seed will now face 21-year-old “NextGen” star Hyeon Chung in the quarterfinals. The two memorably met in the semifinals of this year’s Australian Open, when Chung had to retire with severe blisters on his feet.
Federer said he was looking forward to playing the World #26 and that he was happy to see the young Korean star had healed so quickly. He called Chung “level-headed” and said he sees similarities to Novak Djokovic.
“I think similarities to Novak’s game are particular, which is mostly in his movement, the way he’s able to slide to his forehand and to his backhand with the open stance, you know, which not many guys do or do it as extensively as Chung does,” he said.
Federer says he sees great things from Chung, who excels in the areas of consistency and quickness.
It’s also why his opponent–as is typical for most all of Federer’s opponents–once again met him at the net with a big smile after getting soundly beaten.
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