Google News Indian Wells Flashback: Novak Djokovic beats Roger Federer and matches his record
by JOVICA ILIC | VIEW 2840
In a repeat of the last year's title match, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer fought for the Indian Wells title in 2015. The Serb defended his crown with a 6-3, 6-7, 6-2 triumph and became the second player with four desert titles after the Swiss.
It was Novak's 18th triumph over Roger, avenging the recent Dubai final loss and adding the second title to his name that season after conquering the Australian Open. The Serb had more service winners and had a clear advantage in the mid-range rallies with five to eight shots.
He controlled his strokes nicely and hit a similar number of winners and unforced errors. On the other hand, Roger had a slight advantage in the most extended rallies, which was not enough to keep him safe in sets he lost. He sprayed around 40 unforced errors and lost ground in the decider to hand the trophy to Djokovic.
There were 23 break chances up for grabs, and Novak handled them more efficiently.
Novak Djokovic conquered his fourth Indian Wells title in 2015 over Roger Federer.
He fended off eight out of ten break points and delivered five successful return games to cross the finish line first and add the fourth Indian Wells crown to his collection.
Djokovic held at love in the encounter's first game for a reliable start before Federer leveled the score at 1-1. Roger faced a break point in game four and saved it to level the score at 2-2 with an ace. Novak stayed focused on the return and broke Roger in game six for a 4-2 advantage.
Djokovic cemented the lead with a service winner in game seven and wrapped up the opener with a booming serve at 5-3. Novak repelled a break chance in the second set's second game and grabbed a break in the next one when Roger sprayed a forehand error.
Playing against two break points at 2-1, Djokovic remained focused and grabbed four straight points to confirm the break and open a 6-3, 3-1 advantage. An ace in game six sent Novak 4-2 up, and he squandered a break chance in the next game that could have sent him closer to the title.
Roger saved it to remain within one break deficit and bounced back entirely with a break in game eight that locked them at 4-4. Both players served well in the remaining four games to set up a tie break, and Novak moved 5-3 up when Roger netted a smash.
The Serb hit a double fault at 5-4 to lose the advantage and landed another to experience a set point. Federer clinched the set on his serve at 6-5 to introduce a decider. Instead of building on that, Roger suffered a break in the final set's second game.
Novak lost serve, too, in game three on the fifth break point and felt frustrated. The Serb regained his composure and came from 40-15 down in the sixth game to grab a break following his rival's costly double fault. Djokovic held at 15 with an ace in game seven to move 5-2 in front and force Federer to serve to stay in the match.
Roger got broken after a forehand error to propel Novak over the top and finish runner-up in the desert for the second straight year.