Federer wins Coria farce

Perhaps the pair had agreed in the locker-room of the Qi Zhong stadium to entertain the crowd, after a week of pull-outs verging on crisis. Nothing of course was at stake: Federer secured his semi-final berth on Tuesday, while Coria became a mere tourist to the picturesque city.

But maybe the answer lay in the fact that Federer's preparation for the match involved him staying awake until 4:30am watching Switzerland's football World Cup qualifier against Turkey. "I couldn't believe they were showing it," shrugged Federer. "I thought I might as well take it while it's here."

Whatever the reason for the farce, Federer won his third match of the Red Group condemning Coria to a long flight back to Argentina with only an appearance fee in his back pocket. The 6-0 1-6 6-2 defeat was the 23-year-old's third of the week.

Federer, meanwhile, extended his winning streak to 34 matches with the possibility of sealing a third straight Masters title - to join Ilie Nastase (1971-73) and Ivan Lendl (1985-87) - on the cards.

"I'm not 100 per cent fitness-wise but it was a quick three-setter and I'm happy I didn't use too much energy," Federer, who only recently recovered from ankle ankle injury, said afterwards.

"I couldn't get the practice on the court or on a running machine or lifting weights coming here. But to win puts me in a good mindset for tomorrow's practice and the next match."

The first set bagel for the world number one came with breaks of serve in the first, third and fifth games.

Coria received treatment for a foot injury while trailing 0-5. Sensing a third withdrawal this week - following Rafael Nadal and Andre Agassi on Monday - 15,000 spectators started to make their displeasure known.

"I wanted to stop playing," admitted Coria, who finished winless in the Red Group. "But for the respect I have for Roger Federer...and for the fans, I felt I had to give it my best."

Coria returned to the court, but Federer held serve to win a 27-minute opener. At this point another hefty beating looked a certainty.

Federer inexplicably fell apart in the second set, dropping his serve in the second and fourth games. As Coria edged to a 5-0 lead the statisticians' rifled through the record books.

Had Federer ever lost a set 6-0 in his professional career?

No.

The Swiss ensured Thursday's match didn't become a day to remember - or forget - serving out to 15 for 1-5.

Normal service was resumed in the third set and Federer gained the decisive break to go up 4-2 before closing out the match on a Coria double-fault after one-hour 24 minutes.

Federer's third career victory over Coria improved his win-loss ratio for the year to 80-3 and is now just two wins away from matching John McEnroe's professional-era record of 82-3 for a season in 1984.