Roger Federer had to dig deep to beat Croatia's Borna Coric in the semi-finals of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells on Saturday.

Coric fought hard to win the opening set, but Federer battled to overcome the youngster to reach his eighth final at the competition, winning 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.

Tennis TV highlighted the winning moment:

The Swiss icon had a difficult start to proceedings as he failed to move through the gears against his eager opponent. Coric produced surprising power and took advantage of a below-par Federer.

The two battled to 5-5 in the first set, and fans were silenced as the elder statesman slipped towards losing the opener when the Croatian broke serve to go 6-5 up before calmly seeing out the set. 

In the second set, the veteran finally started to test the technique of the youngster, and the complexion of the match began to change.

At 4-4, Coric finally lost his serve for the first time. Coric began to look to his coaching team for support while his opponent's intensity visibly rose, and Federer grabbed the set, winning 6-4.

With the scores level, the crowd expected Federer to impose his class, but Coric continued to achieve parity against the odds.

Both men lost their opening serves, and at 3-3, Coric broke Federer once again.

It appeared the tide had turned, but the world No. 1 showed all of his experience to stay in touch, and a costly double-fault from Coric saw Federer immediately break back. He then held serve to make it 5-4, and the youngster returned to his chair tired and emotionally drained.

Federer completed a compelling victory with a break to love, but there was no shame for Coric, who proved he could be a star of the future.