Roger Federer (picture) charged into the semi-finals of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells on Thursday with a straight sets win over Kevin Anderson.

The Swiss succeeded where others had failed by blunting the serve of Anderson to win 7-5 6-1.

Federer faced only one break point in the entire match and reeled off seven games on the trot to clinch the opening set and race to a 5-0 lead in the second.

His reward for winning was a semi-final clash today with Ukrainian giantkiller Alexandr Dolgopolov, who continued his fairytale run in the Californian desert by defeating Canadian Milos Raonic 6-3 6-4.

“It was big to win the set and then to go on to break early in the second,” Federer said.

“Then (getting a) double break was like a bonus. From then on I was home basically.”

In the women’s draw, China’s Li Na won her rematch with Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova to join Flavia Pennetta in the semis.

In her first meeting with Cibulkova since the Australian Open final in January, Li once again proved too strong for her younger opponent, winning 6-3 4-6 6-3 in a little over two and a half hours.

Pennetta booked her place in the last four by beating American Sloane Stephens 6-4 5-7 6-4.

Dolgopolov has been a revelation at Indian Wells since he was thrust into the spotlight when he scored an upset win over world number one Rafa Nadal in the third round.

Players who register shock wins often fail to maintain their form on but the 28th seed has gone from strength to strength, beating three seeds in succession.

Raonic beat Andy Murray on Wednesday but found Dolgopolov too hot to hold.

Not only did Dolgopolov succeed in breaking the Canadian’s serve three times, including twice in the second set to overcome a 3-0 deficit, but showed he also has a serve to be reckoned with as he fired six aces.

“He serves big and I knew I had to do that, and I’m pleased how I anticipated on his serve and have seen the toss of the ball and was really concentrated to get those serves back,” Dolgopolov said.