Roger Federer On Course To Retain Top Ranking, Cruises Into Last 16

Roger Federer continued his 2018 unbeaten streak as he cruised into the last 16 at the Indian Wells Masters after a straight sets victory over Filip Krajinovic on Monday.

The Swiss maestro is unbeaten since the start of the season having won both the tournaments he has entered thus far — the Australian Open in January and the Rotterdam Open the following month. Federer is looking to make it three in a row and maintain his place as ATP’s top ranked men's singles player.

The 20-time men’s singles Grand Slam champion was untroubled as he beat Krajinovic 6-2, 6-1 in just under an hour to set up a clash with Frenchman Jeremy Chardy in the last 16. The Croatian struggled to match Federer, who won 10 of the final 11 games in the match and at one point even won 17 straight points as he won the first set 6-2 and raced to a 3-0 lead in the second.

"I was playing aggressive and feeling like he was not loving my slice, and then also mixing in with drop shots eventually," Federer said, as quoted on ATP’s official site. "I think really I was able to mix up my game nicely, make it difficult for him there. At the same time, have fun with my game, play variation, but for the most part try to stay on the offensive, as well. I think it was a good match."

Federer, who took over from Rafael Nadal as the top ranked ATP men’s singles player in February, needs to make, at least, the semi-finals in order to remain at the summit. He is only 600-points ahead of Nadal and is defending 1000-points following his win at Indian Wells in 2017.

The Spaniard will lose 90-points after withdrawing from the event, but will still return to the top of the rankings if Federer does not make the last four in California. The Swiss tennis legend however made it clear that his thoughts are only focused on winning his next match at Indian Wells and not the rankings or who he will face in the latter stages of the competition.

"You're only really as good as your last match," Federer added. "Now we're in Indian Wells and that's my focus and not what I have achieved in the past."

"I wasn't playing that good in my first [opening] round. So when you play that way and you feel that way, you can't right away think, 'oh, who would I be playing in the semis or in the finals'?"

“I think that would be a major mistake by myself. There is still plenty of good enough players around me to cause an upset. So I'm on a good run right now, and I try to maintain that, and you only maintain that if you respect every opponent,” the 20-time men’s singles Grand Slam champion said.

Federer is looking to become the only player to win the Indian Wells Masters six times, he is currently tied on five titles with Novak Djokovic, who was knocked out in the second round by Taro Daniels. If he wins the tournament he will beat his own record from last year to become the oldest player to win the event.