Alexandr Dolgopolov advanced to the first ATP Masters semi-final of his career on Thursday, surging past Milos Raonic 6-3 6-4 to reach the final four at Indian Wells.
Dolgopolov, the world No.31 from Ukraine who stunned world No.1 and defending champion Rafael Nadal in the third round and beat 13th-seeded Fabio Fognini in the fourth, will face the winner of Thursday night's match between 17-time grand slam champion Roger Federer and South African Kevin Anderson.
Anderson, seeded 17th, upset third-seeded Australian Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka in the third round to get his shot at seventh-seeded Federer, who arrived in California off an impressive title run in Dubai.
Dolgopolov, who reached the Australian Open quarter-finals back in 2011 and was ranked as high as 13th in the world in January of 2012, said there's no reason he can't go all the way in the California desert.
"We'll see. Why not?" said Dolgopolov, who reached the final in Rio de Janeiro and the semi-finals in Mexico last month.
"I played good for three weeks. I'm quite fresh. I felt good physically today. I'm confident enough to come out and play good tennis. Then who knows."
Meanwhile in the women's draw Top seed Li Na edged Dominika Cibulkova in three sets on Thursday, reprising her victory over the Slovakian in the Australian Open final to book an Indian Wells semi-final berth.
Li sweated out a 6-3 4-6 6-3 victory in two hours and 36 minutes, battling a more aggressive Cibulkova as well as her own erratic play
The other women's semi-final is between second-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska and Romanian Simona Halep.
Share
