INDIAN WELLS, California: Roger Federer defeated Swiss compatriot and doubles partner Stanislas Wawrinka 6-3, 6-4 Friday to advance to the BNP Paribas Open semfinals, setting up a showdown with Novak Djokovic for the world's No. 2 ranking. Federer is currently second behind Rafael Nadal in the ATP rankings, and Djokovic is third. Djokovic beat Richard Gasquet 6-2, 6-4 to improve to 16-0 this year and put himself in position to surpass Federer in the rankings. “I didn't know it was the case coming into the tournament, and I feel like if you are playing a fellow top-five guy, it doesn't matter what's on the line,” Federer said. “You just want to beat him, and it doesn't matter if it's the finals, semis, rankings involved.” Federer is 18-2 this year, with one tournament win in Doha. Djokovic won titles at the Australia Open and Dubai, where he beat Federer in the final. His last loss came against Federer in the semifinals of the ATP World Tour finals in London in November. “I have a great record against fellow top-10 players, and that's what kind of gets you going,” Federer said. Nadal and Juan Martin del Potro will play in Saturday's other semifinal. Between them, Nadal, Federer and Djokovic have won six of the past seven finals at Indian Wells. Federer is a three-time champion, Nadal has won twice and Djokovic once. On the women's side, 15th-seed Marion Bartoli became the first Frenchwoman to reach the singles final at Indian Wells, defeating No. 23 seed Yanina Wickmayer 6-1, 6-3. She'll play top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki, who routed error-prone Maria Sharapova 6-1, 6-2. Wozniacki lost last year's final to Jelena Jankovic, and is in a final for her third straight tournament. “Definitely didn't expect such a score, but I'm very pleased about the way I played and the way I got my tactics to work,” Wozniacki said. “It was very important for me to play good defense because Maria is hitting the ball hard. It was important to keep depth to my shots and make her move.” There were eight service breaks in the match, with Sharapova blowing a 40-love lead on her serve to trail 5-1 in the first set. Tied 2-all in the second set, Sharapova fought back to deuce, then double-faulted away the game as Wozniacki won the final four games to close out the win. Playing her first semifinal of the year, Sharapova also double-faulted to lose her serve at 5
