Indian Wells: Dominic Thiem beats Roger Federer to win maiden Masters title
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Thiem sealed the match after two hours and two minutes when Federer's backhand found the net and will now return to a career-high ranking of fourth in the world.
Dominic Thiem defeated Roger Federer 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 to win the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, denying Federer a record sixth title in the desert while claiming the biggest title of his career.
The 25-year-old Austrian, ranked eighth in the world, trailed 4-3 and 5-4 in the third set before breaking Federer with a forehand winner to go up 6-5.
Thiem earned the crucial break in the 11th game of the final set. He sealed the match after two hours and two minutes when Federer's backhand found the net and will now return to a career-high ranking of fourth in the world.
It was the second year in a row that Federer was denied in the Indian Wells final. In 2018 he missed out on three championship points as he fell to Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro in the title match.
Thiem/@ThiemDomi /(🎥@TennisTV ) #BNPPO19 pic.twitter.com/Gt7WQ6ukOf
— doublefault28 (@doublefault28) March 18, 2019
Federer, fresh off a remarkable 100th career title in Dubai, remains tied with Novak Djokovic for the most Indian Wells victories with five.
By virtue of this win, Thiem became first Austrian to win a Masters 1000 title since Thomas Muster in Miami in 1997.