Djokovic Outlasts Federer for Indian Wells Crown

World number one Novak Djokovic captured his fourth BNP Paribas Open title on Sunday, tying Roger Federer for most all-time titles in Indian Wells by defeating Federer 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-2. It is the second consecutive season Djokovic has won the Indian Wells tournament, taking advantage of 43 unforced errors by Federer to edge the Swiss in three sets.

“It’s great that I managed to win this match in the big tournament and to win it in a way that I felt like I was the better player on the court,” said Djokovic. “It’s going to give me confidence, not just for future matches that I play against [Federer], but just for Miami and the rest of the season.”

In the 38th installment of the Federer-Djokovic saga, both players exchanged sets through the first two frames to give the fans what they want, a deciding third set.

Djokovic jumped out to a 2-0 advantage in the final set and was on serve looking to take control. Federer was able to get the break back and consolidated it with a hold to even things up at two-all.

From there, however, the Serb rattled off four consecutive games to close out Federer and beat the Swiss in the Indian Wells final for the second consecutive year.

“You miss a couple of shots which you shouldn’t and then maybe I didn’t serve as good as I should have, and then that’s all Novak needs,” said Federer. “Then he doesn’t blink. It’s pretty quick.”

Djokovic pounced on Federer after things evened up in the final set. He broke three times overall in the frame and saved four of his own to push past his good friend and rival.

“He has been always the ultimate challenge, with Nadal, depending on which surface I get to play,” said Djokovic. “Obviously Nadal on clay is the toughest one to beat, and Roger on the quicker surfaces. But because they have been so dominant over the years and so consistent and so confident on the court, it’s very difficult to get into the mix and start winning titles against them.”

With the win, Djokovic now sits 4,000 points ahead of Federer for top spot in the ATP World Tour rankings. The Serb will be in action later this week at the Miami Open.