Dominic Thiem ended Roger Federer’s bid for a record sixth Indian Wells title with a battling three-set victory in the final in California.
The
Austrian seventh seed fought back to beat Federer 3-6 6-3 7-5.
Swiss
Federer, a 20-time Grand Slam champion, converted just two of 11 break points
and made 32 unforced errors to Thiem’s 25.
Thiem
secured his first title at a Masters 1000 event and will rise to fourth in the
world rankings on Monday.
Federer,
who lost last year’s final in Indian Wells to Juan Martin del Potro, made a
confident start.
He
created early break opportunities in Thiem’s first service game and converted
his fourth break point of the opening set for a 2-0 lead.
Thiem,
competing in his third Masters 1000 final, forced the error out of Federer’s
backhand to get back on serve, but the Swiss kept him under pressure.
A fine backhand return of serve allowed Federer to break
for a 5-3 lead, and he closed out the set in 36 minutes.
Federer looked comfortable and quickly created another two
break opportunities in the second set, but the 37-year-old squandered them
both.
A poor service game, with Federer rushing his approaches
to the net, allowed Thiem to break and the Austrian held his nerve to force an
unlikely third set.
Thiem saved a break point in a game lasting eight minutes
to hold for 4-4, and overcame a nasty fall to break Federer three games later
and serve for the title.
The Austrian, who won 70% of first-serve points, wrapped
up the win when Federer sent a return into the net.
Federer, who won his 100th ATP title in Dubai in the week before Indian Wells, will move to fifth in the world rankings. –BBC
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