Indian Wells R4: Federer Survives Wawrinka

Roger Federer made the quarterfinals of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells with a 6-3, 6-7(4), 7-5 win that lasted just under two and a half hours in the afternoon shade.

The defending champion got off to the worst possible start, being broken at love. He recovered quickly though as he broke back and then broke again as he took the first set with relative ease. Once he got up the break in the second and served for the match, it looked like things were all but over, but Wawrinka had his say in the affairs. He broke to love and turned the momentum completely around and won the second set tiebreaks seven points to four. It was the first tiebreak he ever won against Fed.

In the third set Roger quickly got down 0-30 at 1-1 when he served and followed his shot to the net. The return by Stan was hammered at Fed's feet and he dumped the reply in the net. Federer asked chair umpire Fergus Murphy to challenge but the veteran ump would not oblige, saying Fed had hit one shot too many. Clearly put off, Fed lost the next point and got broken.

He bounced right back to break however even though Stan had a game point to consolidate his break. From there on he got that fire back and only faced serious trouble when he saved a break point at 4-4 with a forehand that landed square on the line. Wawrinka couldn't force the tiebreak however and that sealed the deal for the Maestro.

It definitely wasn't a match that anyone is going to be remembering years from now, but Fed got the job done, even if it was painful at times. He was broken while serving for the match which is never good but he lifted his game in the first and third sets when he needed to. He didn't seem to be moving as comfortably as he would have liked, but he wasn't showing severe signs of back pain.

But he will need to get that sorted out as soon as possible because he is facing Rafael Nadal in the quarters, who took out Ernests Gulbis 4-6, 6-4, 7-5. It should be an interesting match as it will be Rafa's biggest test since his return and it is unknown how Roger will play.  I never assume the next match will be bad because the previous one was, so I honestly don't know how it will go. I could see Nadal winning in straights, but I could also see Fed pulling out his magic with an inspired performance, as he did last year.

With all that out of the way, I want to talk a bit about the argument that Roger had with chair umpire Fergus Murphy about the challenging situation. I do think that Fergus made the right call - they are told to not allow a player to challenge when they have hit a shot after the call they want to review.

However, this was a unique situation and it could provoke some questions. If Roger had let the ball go by him, would he have been allowed to challenge his serve, or would he not be able to because a clean winner was hit? What Roger was trying to argue is that it was literally a split second between Stan's return and the time where he could have made the challenge. When Stan smacked the return, that was the time that the "out" call should have been called and you have to bet Fed was waiting for it.

Nevertheless, the argument seemed to lite a fire under his butt and he got his mind together after more or less falling apart at the end of the 2nd.

So Federer vs Nadal is next - their 29th meeting. I only have one request for Roger, and that is to wear the blue shirt and not the orange one! The latter is bad luck I tell you.....