10 Things to Know About Federer vs. Coric & Del Potro vs. Raonic

Update: Roger Federer defeated Borna Coric 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 to reach the BNP Paribas Open final in Indian Wells. Here is the match point:

It’s going to be a blockbuster day of tennis at the BNP Paribas Open as both of the men’s semifinals—Roger Federer against Borna Coric, and Juan Martin del Potro against Milos Raonic—take place.

So to get ready for the big day, here are 10 Things To Know about those semis:

1. Federer leads Coric in their head-to-head, 1-0. They played in the semifinals of the ATP World Tour 500-level event in Dubai in 2015, with Federer cruising to victory in just 56 minutes, 6-2, 6-1.

Coric was in a much different place then, however. He had only just broken the Top 100 a few months before and was ranked No. 84—he’s since reached as high as No. 33, and is currently at No. 49.

2. Federer is a perfect 16-0 this year. The 36-year-old has tied his best start to a year in his career; he also had a 16-0 start as a 24-year-old in 2006 (that one was snapped by Rafael Nadal in the final of Dubai that year). If Federer wins today, he will have his best start to a year in his entire career.

Tough Call: Should Federer play Roland Garros?

3. Coric is playing the first Masters 1000 semifinal of his career. Before this week, the Croat’s best results at Masters 1000 tournaments were two quarterfinals (Cincinnati in 2016 and Madrid in 2017).

4. Federer is playing in his 61st Masters 1000 semifinal. He’s an incredible 46-14 in his first 60 Masters 1000 semifinals. This is Federer's 11th Indian Wells semifinal (he’s 7-3 in the first 10 of those).

5. Coric has beaten a world No.1 before. Among Coric’s eight career Top 10 wins is a win over a world No.1, when he upset Andy Murray in the third round of Madrid last May. His best wins on hardcourts are a pair of wins over world No.3s: Nadal at Basel in 2014, and Murray at Dubai in 2015.

Borna Coric defeats Taylor Fritz at Indian Wells:

6. Raonic leads del Potro in their head-to-head, 2-1. They split two meetings back in 2013, and in their only meeting in the last four and a half years, it was Raonic who came out on top, beating del Potro in the semifinals of the ATP World Tour 250-level event in Delray Beach last year, 6-3, 7-6 (6).

7. They’re both former finalists at Indian Wells. Del Potro was a runner-up in 2013 (to Nadal) and Raonic was a runner-up in 2016 (to Novak Djokovic). They’re both trying to reach their second Indian Wells final.

8. They’re both two wins away from their first Masters 1000 title. Both del Potro and Raonic have reached three ATP Masters 1000 finals before—and are 0-3 in those finals. Del Potro lost in the title match at 2009 Canada, 2013 Indian Wells and 2013 Shanghai; Raonic at 2013 Canada, 2014 Paris and 2016 Indian Wells.

Milos Raonic tops Sam Querrey at Indian Wells:

9. Del Potro is going for his 400th career match win. The world No. 8 has a 399-159 career win-loss record going into this match. The only Argentine ever to reach 400 wins was Guillermo Vilas (929).

10. Raonic is aiming for his first Top 10 win in more than a year. Raonic, a former No. 3, has 26 career Top 10 wins, but his last one came against a No.9-ranked Nadal at Brisbane in January 2017.

He hasn’t beaten anyone ranked No. 8 or higher since the ATP Finals in 2016 (No. 6 Gael Monfils).

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