INDIAN WELLS: Novak Djokovic came into Indian Wells for the first time in four years without a title. He left with a $1 million check and his first trophy of the year, beating Roger Federer 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3) on Sunday to win the BNP Paribas Open for the third time.
HunzaNews March 17th, 2014.
“Not winning a title and coming here, there were certain doubts,” Djokovic said. “I had ups and downs in my concentration in opening rounds, but I managed to stay mentally strong and have that self-belief. That´s something that definitely makes this title very special to me.”
Federer rallied from a break down and a 5-3 deficit in the third set to force the tiebreaker, but he made a slew of mistakes to lose the 33rd meeting between the rivals.
Federer still leads the series 17-16, having beaten Djokovic in three sets in the semifinals at Dubai two weeks ago.
Djokovic will remain No. 2 in the world, while Federer will rise three spots to No. 5 on Monday in the ATP Tour rankings.
Federer was trying to win a record fifth title in the Southern California desert, and at 32, he would have been the oldest Masters 1000 winner since 34-year-old Andre Agassi won at Cincinnati in 2004. But Djokovic wouldn´t allow it. After Federer breezed to the first set in 31 minutes, Djokovic earned the lone break of the second set to go up 5-3 after Federer pulled a forehand wide. “I know he always comes out confident, aggressive,” Djokovic said. “He doesn´t give you the victory; you have to earn it.”
Djokovic got the early break in the third, again on one of Federer´s forehand errors, to lead 2-1.
His 112-mph (180 kph) ace gave him a 4-2 lead, and he extended it to 5-3 with a backhand winner down the line. But Federer then served a love-game to make it 5-4 and broke Djokovic to tie the set, 5-all. “I was able to just keep the pressure on Novak and show him that if he slips up, I will be there and I will make it a very competitive match in the end for him,” Federer said.
In the tiebreaker, however, the Serb raced to a 5-1 lead, helped by four errors from Federer, and closed it out when Federer´s backhand landed in the net. “At the end, he made sure he kept the ball in play and I might have made a few too many errors when it really mattered,” Federer said. (AP)
