Roger Federer
Roger Federer is featuting in his 61st Masters 1000 final.Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

Top seed Roger Federer takes on unseeded Borna Coric of Croatia in the semi-final of BNP Paribas Open 2018 in Indian Wells Saturday, March 17.

The world no 1 is heading into his 61st Masters 1000 semi-final on the back of a 7-5, 6-1 demolition of South Korea's Chung Hyeon in Friday's last-eight tie.

In the absence of world no 2 Rafael Nadal and the first-round exit of Novak Djokovic, Federer has hardly been challenged in his title defense. The 36-year-old was tested in the first round by Federico Delbonis, but he has not dropped a set en route to the semi-final.

Federer starts Saturday's tie as the overwhelming favorite. The 20-time Grand Slam champion defeated Coric 6-1, 6-2 in their only meeting at an ATP 250 tournament in Dubai in 2015.

The defending champion, though, is wary of the windy conditions at Indian Wells, which he thinks might cause trouble.

"I think it's going to be a day session so depending on how much wind there is going to be I'm either going to be playing the wind or I'm going to be playing Borna. We will see what happens there," Federer said after his quarter-final win.

Coric, who will be featuring in his first Masters 1000 semi-final, will have to be at his best to even test Federer, who has been unstoppable this season with a 16-0 record.

However, the 21-year-old Croat should take confidence from his impressive wins against the likes of Kevin Anderson, Roberto Bautista Agut and Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the ongoing tournament.

When is the semi-final and how to watch it live

The last-four tie between Roger Federer and Borna Coric 11 am local time, 11:30 pm IST, 6 pm GMT.

Live stream and TV listings

India: TV - Sony ESPN/HD; Live stream: Sony Liv

Canada: RDS

UK: TV- Sky Sports; Live stream: Sky Go

US: Tennis Channel