Indian Wells is considered by many to be the “Fifth Slam” — arguably the most important of the ATP 1000 tournaments. This year’s edition featured upsets (Nadal and Murray), and the emergence of some of men’s tennis’s more promising younger players (Dolgopolov, Gulbis, and Dimitrov). However, when all was shaken out, it still came down to two stalwarts: Djokovic and Federer. The complete overhaul of the men’s game will have to wait.
The set-up was big: Federer was playing a renewed game with his bigger racquet, and Djokovic was having his worst start of the year since 2006. Roger, who had beaten Novak in Dubai, and gone on to win the title, was having a far better start to his year than last, when he won only one title, a 500-level tournament, in Halle. The prevailing wisdom was that Djokovic needed the win more than Federer.
In the first set, Federer came out aggressive and tricky. He was all over the court, and up at the net often, which clearly had Djokovic off-balance. The Serb started slowly, with a shaky serve, and the Swiss broke his first service game. Federer continued the attack, and won the first set 6-3.
The second set saw a steadier Djokovic, and a less-aggressive Federer. The Serb’s serve was much stronger, and he was making inroads into the Federer serve, which had dropped considerably. Also, Federer had faded from his attacking stance, preferring to go toe-to-toe at the baseline with Djokovic, who broke in the seventh game of the set for 5-3. Federer’s first serve was abandoning him at this point, while Djokovic’s was getting better. He won the second set 6-3.
The third set held all of the intrigues that the match warranted. Djokovic broke Federer’s serve in the third game, but the Serb failed to serve it out at 5-4. Federer seemed to remember that the attacking game had gotten him the first set, but rather too late. Though he got the match to a tiebreak, Djokovic’s stronger serving and better baseline game got him the trophy. Final score: 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(3.)
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Cover Photo (Creative Commons License): Marianne Bevis
