INDIAN WELLS, California — Move over Roger Federer, there is another guy with a share of your crown as king of the desert. Novak Djokovic defeated Federer 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-2 to win his fourth BNP Paribas Open Sunday, tying him with Federer for the most titles in the desert after winning for the second straight year.
“I am at the prime of my career,” Djokovic said. “I'm going to try to use every part of this fact to stay where I am and to fight for as many major titles as possible.”
Djokovic, ranked No. 1 in the world, and No. 2 Federer met for the 38th time, second-most among rivalries in the Open era. Federer leads the series 20-18 and had won three of their last four meetings going into the final.
But Federer made too many mistakes at crucial times, piling up 43 unforced errors to 35 for Djokovic. The Serb connected on 63 percent of his first serves, while Federer's serve let him down. He double-faulted to trail 4-2 in the third as Djokovic won the last four games of the match.
“I felt huge relief, to be honest,” Djokovic said. “I saw I'm not the only one that is double-faulting under pressure. I got myself in a position to break and then he handed me that break. I thought I deserved it in a way because I really fought hard for it.” Djokovic also won in three sets last year. He and Federer have combined to win eight of the last 11 titles in the desert, and they became the first two players to reach the final in consecutive years since the tournament began 40 years ago.
Federer will take time off following his disappointing loss Sunday to get ready for the upcoming clay court season.
Simona Halep beat Jelena Jankovic 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 in the women's final, giving the Romanian the biggest title of her career and a WTA Tour-leading third tournament victory of the year.
Djokovic and Halep earned $900,400 each.
In the women's final, Halep improved to 6-0 in three-set matches this year, smacking a cross-court forehand winner off Jankovic's weak volley return on match point. The world's third-ranked player advanced to the final when Serena Williams withdrew before their semifinal because of a sprained right knee.
“The first set was strange for me because I didn't play for three days. It's really tough to go straight to the finals,” said Halep, who hadn't played since Wednesday.
Halep continues her rise in the sport, having broken into the top 10 a year ago and being a finalist at the French Open and semifinalist at Wimbledon last year. The 23-year-old Romanian reached the quarterfinals at the Australian Open in January. This time, Jankovic couldn't hold a lead. She was up a set and a break in the second only to have Halep win two straight games and tie it 3-all. Jankovic broke for a 5-4 lead on a smash and then was two points from victory on her serve in the next game, but Halep won the final three games of the set.
“I got a little bit tentative and that was my big mistake,” she said. Both players struggled to hold serve in the third set, when there were seven breaks. The 2-1/2-hour match had 18 service breaks in all. — Agencies
