Federer powers into Indian Wells semis

Roger Federer charged into the semi-finals of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells with a straight-sets win over South African Kevin Anderson.

The Swiss master succeeded where others had failed by blunting the serve of the towering 6ft 8in (2.13m) Anderson to win 7-5 6-1.

His reward for winning was a semi-final clash on Saturday with Ukrainian giantkiller Alexandr Dolgopolov, who continued his fairytale run in the Californian desert by defeating big-serving Canadian Milos 6-3 6-4.

“It was big to win the set and then to go on to break early in the second,” Federer said. “Then (getting a) double break was like a bonus. From then on I was home basically.

Women’s semi-finals

In the women’s draw, China’s Li Na won her rematch with Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova to join Italian veteran Flavia Pennetta in the semis.

In her first meeting with Cibulkova since the Australian Open final in January, Li once again proved too strong for her younger opponent, winning 6-3 4-6 6-3 in a little over two and a half hours.

Pennetta booked her place in the last four by beating American Sloane Stephens 6-4 5-7 6-4 in a seesawing match played in gusting winds.