Roger Federer: Kevin Anderson has watched Indian Wells final and will think THIS – pundit

That is the view of Amazon Prime pundit Greg Rusedski.

Federer eased to the final in Indian Wells and had a free day to prepare after Rafael Nadal withdrew from the semi-final with an injury.

The Swiss won the first set and looked in control of the match but was pegged back by Thiem and the Austrian lifted his level in the final set to produce a major upset.

At the Miami Open this week, Federer is once again the favourite after Novak Djokovic crashed out in the fourth round.

But Anderson beat Federer last year at Wimbledon and has the game to cause problems for the 20-time Grand Slam champion.

Federer has also struggled to convert his break point chances this year, slipping to 35 per cent success compared to a career 41 per cent rate.

Speaking ahead of the match, Rusedski was asked about Federer being “tight” in big moments.

And the former British no 1 reckons Anderson would have taken notice of how Thiem was able to beat Federer.

Rusedski said: “Kevin would have looked at the final in Indian Wells where Dominic Thiem beat him.

“Everybody thought Federer was going to win. Guys will be talking [saying] Roger gets tight at certain stages.

“I know it is only fractional but you have to be ready for those one or two points during a match.

“And if you take them, you have a great chance to win the match.

“If you have a massive serve on slow courts, being a tall man, it allows you a fraction second more time on the Federer serve and on the ball so that’s a plus for Kevin.”

Rusedski’s co-analyst Hantuchova added: “Definitely so and there’s no reason why he shouldn’t [feel confident].

“Because of the surface, how he’s been playing in this tournament and he’s got the game to beat Roger.”

source: express.co.uk