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Indian Wells - Czech Tomas Berdych ran into a human buzz-saw in Roger Federer at the BNP Paribas Open on Friday, saying that the Swiss world number two had done "pretty much everything perfect" during a 6-4 6-0 win.
Berdych had beaten Federer five times in their previous nine meetings but he had no answer to his long-time rival at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden as he was broken once in the first set and three times in the second in a one-sided quarter-final.
"It's always about being ready, waiting for a chance," ninth seed Berdych told reporters after being swept aside in just 68 minutes on the showpiece stadium court as Federer hit 21 winners and never faced a break point.
"He was doing pretty much everything perfect ... he was doing pretty much everything on the top level, and there was not much that I can do."
Berdych had beaten the Swiss in all three of their previous meetings in the United States but he became increasingly error-prone after making a strong start as his opponent's dominance took a heavy toll.
Asked if he had felt that Federer was unbeatable based on his superb form during their quarter-final, Berdych replied: "Yeah, it kind of felt like that from the beginning. He played pretty well.
"It was one of his very tough performances. When you feel that he's in control right from the beginning, then of course you have to come up with your best game. You want to play well. You just want to play your best.
"There is a very thin line in between that and overdoing it. It's not so easy, really to control it every single time that you go play a player like this, even if he's playing in such a good shape. Today I stepped a little bit over it."
Berdych, who was beaten by Federer in three sets when they last played, in Dubai in 2014, slipped to 6-13 against the Swiss after their 19th career encounter.
