Six years have passed since Roger Federer celebrated at the final match in Indian Wells.
2012 BNP Paribas Open Men’s Final Results: Roger Federer Wins Fourth Title At Indian Wells
On Sunday, he celebrated another BNP Paribas Open title.
“He’s won pretty much everything in tennis at least twice,” a tournament coordinator said during the final ceremony, “and this will be his fourth time.”
The Swiss master defeated American John Isner in a one-hour-and-21-minute straight-sets match, 7-6 (7), 6-3.
Isner was coming off a match where he upset world No.1 Novak Djokovic in the semifinals. Upsetting a big seed wasn’t something new to the 26-year-old American this season. Last month, Isner defeated Federer in four sets on Federer’s home clay during Davis Cup play in Switzerland.
On Sunday, Isner blazed some strong serves but Federer just barely missed.
Federer has plenty of experience in ATP World Tour Master 1000 matches. This was his 19th such title.
Isner was going for his first.
While the first set was a grueling “don’t-break-serve” set, the second set was dominated by Federer. Isner’s first service points won dropped by about 10 percent. In the second set, Federer won 63 percent of the points. Isner won just 37 percent.
The 2012 BNP Paribas Open title his Federer’s 73rd career singles title.
During the ceremony, Isner thanked his parents and girlfriend for making the trip to support him and praised the tournament put on by Larry Ellison that gives out $1 million to the winner.
"This, in my opinion, is the best tournament all year long," Isner said. "I'm very happy to have played well all week."
But the victory for Federer wouldn’t be something if it wasn’t a record. His win on Sunday ties him with Rafael Nadal for the most career ATP World Tour Master 1000 titles.
“It’s surprising,” Federer said about his fourth title. “I didn’t really feel good at the beginning but that’s just how tennis goes. At the end I played some of the best tennis in my life. It was a great atmosphere again all week long. It makes me really happy. Being the best like this makes me really happy.”
As for his return to No. 1:
“It’s a long-term goal obviously being ranked in the top 5, you have shot at being No. 1,” Federer said. “For the moment, Djokovic is still the best player.”
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