Federer cruises at Indian Wells, Thiem retires hurt

California, March 12: World number one Roger Federer barely raised a sweat en route to the last 16 at Indian Wells, while Dominic Thiem succumbed to injury.

Defending champion Federer extended his unbeaten streak in 2018 to 14 matches after blitzing Filip Krajinovic on Monday.

The 20-time Grand Slam champion is seeking his third ATP World Tour title of the season and the 98th of his illustrious career.

Thiem was unable to move through to the fourth round – the fifth seed retiring hurt with an ankle injury against Pablo Cuevas.

Australian Open semi-finalist Hyeon Chung, meanwhile, trumped Tomas Berdych.

FEDERER SHOWS NO MERCY

It was a routine day for Federer, who saw off his Serbian opponent 6-2 6-1 on Stadium 1.

A five-time winner at Indian Wells, Federer needed less than an hour to crush Krajinovic.

Krajinovic dug deep early, overcoming a 2-0 deficit to level things up but it was one-way traffic from that point as Federer hurried to a one-set lead in the next four games – winning three of them to love.

Federer wasted no time in the second set, sailing in the fourth round where he will face Jeremy Chardy.

On Krajinovic, Federer said: "I still think he can play much better than he did today. Maybe it was because it was the first time he ever played against me."

CHUNG STUNS BERDYCH

The South Korean sensation continued his impressive season by upstaging Czech 12th seed Berdych 6-4 6-4.

Chung, who made the final four at Melbourne Park in January, broke three times throughout the contest to prevail after one hour, 24 minutes.

Next up for the 23rd seed is Cuevas, who was leading 3-6 6-4 4-2 when Thiem retired hurt.

ANDERSON ROLLS ON

Kevin Anderson put on a serving masterclass as he saw off Nicolas Kicker 7-6 (7-1) 7-6 (7-3).

Last year's US Open runner-up Anderson sent down 22 aces, while Kicker only managed one in the third-round battle.

Standing in the way of the seventh seed and a quarter-final berth is Pablo Carreno Busta, who beat Daniil Medvedev in straight sets.

Roberto Bautista Agut and Adrian Mannarino were sent packing, along with Spanish veteran Fernando Verdasco.

Source: OPTA