Kyrgios topples defending champ Djokovic at Indian Wells

Roger Federer is still riding high.

After this year’s memorable Australian Open finish, it’s highly unlikely that tennis aficionados are treated to another Roger Federer vs Rafael Nadal Grand Slam final.

Federer, seeded No. 9 here, started out strong and broke Nadal’s serve to start the match.

Federer won the first set easily and nothing changed in the second too, with the Swiss ace continuing his impressive form in the competition. “I’m very pleased with how it went”.

Federer fired 12 aces – his fastest serve registering 131 miles per hour – and never faced a break point against Johnson, who reached 136 on the radar gun and fought off all four break points against him.

She had 40 winners, 40 unforced errors and won the final four games of the match after trailing 3-2.

A forehand volley sealed the set, and another forehand victor put Federer up a break at 2-1 in the second.

The two superstars hadn’t played each other before the quarterfinals of an event since 2004 when they met in the third round at Miami.

“I thought I just competed well”, Kyrgios, 21, said.

Another one of tennis’ Big Four went down, too.

Nick Kyrgios of Australia returns a shot to Novak Djokovic of Serbia during their match at the 2017 BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, USA, 15 March 2017. Djokovic joined Nadal and top-ranked Andy Murray, who was upset in the second round. On Thursday, however, the Swiss master beat Nadal for a third consecutive time for the first time in his career.

“It’s a nice feeling to win the last three, I can tell you that”, said Federer, who left fans wondering if his backhand was better than his forehand in a stunning display.

Federer’s conterst with Steve Johnson was closest than Nadal’s with Verdasco as neither man was able to break the serve, but the greatest of all time celebrated in the end after two tie-breaks.

“Second set was obviously up and down”, Djokovic said. “Unfortunately, it was today”.

Two months removed from becoming the oldest player since 1972 to win a Grand Slam title, Federer is into the quarterfinals here at Indian Wells.

Kyrgios fired down 14 aces and won 86 per cent of his first serves without facing a break point.

It was the second successive win for Krygios over the Serb, following victory in their first-ever meeting in Acapulco a fortnight ago and he earned it thanks to some monster serving.