Novak Djokovic celebrates after defeating Roger Federer 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-2 in the final of the BNP Paribas Tennis Open in Indian Wells, Calif.Jayne Kamin-Oncea
Novak Djokovic defeated Roger Federer 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-2 to defend his Indian Wells crown and claim his 50th career ATP title on Sunday.
The 27-year-old world No. 1 from Serbia also captured his fourth Indian Wells crown and is now tied with world No. 2 Federer for the most men's titles in the California desert.
Simona Halep beat Jelena Jankovic 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 to win the women's title.
"The trophy is very heavy," Djokovic told the crowd as he celebrated adding to the titles he won in 2008 and 2011.
It was another epic struggle in a long list of hard-court battles between the two top players in the world, who have met 38 times with Swiss great Federer still holding a slight 20-18 edge.
Djokovic had lost his past two matches to Federer in straight sets after beating him in last year's Wimbledon final.
Djokovic also needed three sets to beat Federer in the 2014 Indian Wells title match.
Federer insisted people shouldn't read too much into this loss. "I have beat him the last couple times. It is not like I lost 10 in a row," said Federer, who beat Canadian Milos Raonic 7-5, 6-4 on Saturday. "A lot depends on how well he serves and returns. We usually play in finals so we are both peaking at the same time."
Federer and Djokovic have combined to win eight of the past 12 Indian Wells titles but this is the first time they have met in back-to-back finals.
Djokovic blasted eight aces, 26 winners and broke Federer five times in the battle of 2 hours 17 minutes in front of a crowd of about 15,000 on inside the Tennis Garden stadium.
Djokovic surpassed his coach Boris Becker's 49 titles to become the 12th player in Open Era history with 50 ATP Tour crowns.
Even though he had the crowd on his side, Federer couldn't overcome his poor serving and 43 unforced errors.
"Novak did well to sustain the lead for most of the match," Federer said. "I think he found an extra gear in the end. Controlled aggression was the key out there."
Djokovic jumped all over Federer's serve, allowing the Swiss to win just 15 points off the second serve.
Halep of Romania's title was the biggest of her career. It was also a WTA Tour-leading third tournament victory of the year.
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 semi-final 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 semi-finalist at Wimbledon last year. The 23-year-old reached the quarter-finals at the Australian Open in January.
"I have another title, my biggest title now, so it's amazing," she said.
Jankovic won her biggest career title at Indian Wells in 2010. She was seeking her first tournament victory since 2013 at Bogota, but she 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 3-3.
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.
"At the end of the second set I got a little bit nervous," Jankovic said. "I got a little bit tentative and that was my big mistake. I let her come back into the match. I kind of let those nerves take the best out of me. That shouldn't happen."
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.
Jankovic committed 61 unforced errors and had nine double-faults, smiling wryly after her last one gave Halep match point. Jankovic fell to 5-1 in three-set matches this year.
Ranked 21st coming into Indian Wells, Jankovic rallied from deficits in four of her five matches en route to the final. The 30-year-old Serb had her best result so far this year, after failing to get out of the second round in four previous tournaments.
Djokovic and Halep earned $900,400 (U.S.) each.