agence france presse
Indian Wells, March 23: Novak Djokovic defeated Roger Federer 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-2 to successfully defend his Indian Wells crown and claim his 50th career ATP title here Sunday.
“The trophy is very heavy,” Djokovic joked with reporters. “But I don’t mind holding it as much as I can,” added the man who triumphed here in 2008
and 2011.
It was another epic struggle in a long list of hard court battles between the two top players in the world, who have met 38 times with Swiss great Federer still holding a slight 20-18 edge. Djokovic had lost his last two matches to Federer in straight sets after beating him in last year’s Wimbledon final.
Federer insisted people shouldn’t read too much into this loss. “I have beaten him the last couple times. It is not like I lost 10 in a row,” Federer said. “A lot depends on how well he serves and returns. We usually play in finals so we are both peaking at the same time.”
The two have combined to win eight of the last 12 Indian Wells titles but this is the first time they have met in back-to-back finals.
Djokovic blasted eight aces, 26 winners and broke Federer five times in the two hour, 17 minute battle in front of a crowd of about 15,000 inside the Tennis Garden stadium. Even though he had the crowd on his side, Federer couldn’t overcome his poor serving and his 43 unforced errors ultimately contributed to his downfall.
Djokovic jumped all over Federer’s serve, allowing the Swiss to win just 15 points off the second serve. “He (Djokovic) returns so well off the second serve. That is what was also was tough today (Sunday) against him,” Federer said.
Federer’s best moments came in the last half of the middle set when he broke Djokovic for the first time in the match to rally from an earlier break and level the set at 4-4. Federer won the second set tie-breaker 7-5 but he got some help from Djokovic who made three double faults and then hammered a backhand long on
set point.
But then Djokovic was much superior in the final set and won it easily.
