Indian Wells 2019: Thiem defeats Federer in the final
What's the story
Former world number one Roger Federer was defeated by Dominic Thiem in the final of the ATP Indian Wells Masters 2019 on Sunday.
Federer lost 6-3, 3-6, 5-7 to the Austrian, in what was the fifth meeting between the two.
With this victory, Thiem enjoys a 3-2 lead over the legend in the head-to-head meetings.
Federer also lost his number four rank.
The gameplay
Thiem breaks Federer at crucial junctions
Momentum swung in Thiem's favor when he broke Federer at a crucial juncture in the deciding set to take a 6-5 lead.
From thereon, it was too late for Federer to recover as Thiem claimed it 7-5.
Meanwhile, the opening set went smoothly in favor of Federer as he won 6-3, while the second set saw Thiem playing long rallies to keep Federer contained.
Unhappy
Federer unhappy with his serve in the final set
It looked like Federer lost some momentum while serving in the final set, especially when Thiem broke him.
Notably, Federer too was unhappy with his serve and said that it was his fault that he did not serve well, while praising Thiem as he took advantage of it.
Moreover, Federer said that he was overall happy, and looks forward to more tournaments.
Quote
Always a pleasure to play and learn from the legend
Thiem told Federer, "It is such a pleasure to compete with you, to learn so much from you, and to play with one of the biggest legends of all time. I'm just hoping you play more and we can have some other big finals."
Miami awaits
Federer and Thiem move on to Miami next week
Following the conclusion of Indian Wells, both Federer and Thiem will now look forward to playing the Miami Masters next week.
While the tournament will miss a couple of big faces in the form of Rafael Nadal and Juan Martin del Potro, both Federer and Thiem, along with Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev, are set to the light up the tournament.