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Indian Wells: Federer sets up 4th round clash with Nadal

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Indian Wells: Federer goes to semis after 'sick' Kyrgios pulls out of tie

In what will seem like a return leg to the 2017 Australian Open final, world-renowned Tennis stars Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have both set up a BNP Paribas open fourth round clash after securing victories from their third round ties.

Federer booked his place on Wednesday with a straight sets win over American Steve Johnson, edging the tight contest, 7-6, (7/3), 7-6 (7/4), in a match with no breaks of serves.

Nadal had it much more comfortable as he beat his compatriot Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 7-5 a day before.

Interestingly, the fourth round match between the duo will be their 36th meeting in the sport’s championships, and Federer has had the upper hand, having been victorious 23 times.

The last tie between them was at the Australian Open final earlier this year, where Federal defeated Nadal, to lift a record 17 Grand Slams. And the two greats are meeting again for the first time after that clash.

After the third round victory on Wednesday, Federer said in his post-match press conference: “He (Nadal) has the talent to do very difficult things that look easy. He’s able to take the ball very early. Serve and first shot, he creates a lot of winners with that, the two first shots.”

Read Also: Indian Wells: Federer, Nadal, Djokovic in 3rd round, Murray crashes out

“That’s why I came here, to play against guys like Rafa. Now we have it. I’m going to be excited now, I’d better be excited now otherwise I came for the wrong reasons.

“So regardless of Australia, winning or losing, I’m going to try to go out there and try to play free again. I think it’s really important.”

The match is scheduled for Thursday.

Here are some of round four fixtures:

Goffin v Cuevas
Wawrinka v Nishioka
Young v Nishikori
Nadal v Federer
Kyrgios v Djokovic

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