The Argentinian wasted a match point of his own in the second set and appeared on the verge of defeat when Federer served for the match at 5-4 and 40-15 in the third
Argentina's Juan Martin Del Potro (right) meets Switzerland's Roger Federer after the Indian Wells Masters final on Sunday. Pic/AFP
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Juan Martin Del Potro saved two match points en route to victory over Roger Federer at Indian Wells, ending the Swiss' perfect record in 2018 and clinching his first ATP Masters title at the Indian Wells Masters on Sunday.
The Argentinian wasted a match point of his own in the second set and appeared on the verge of defeat when Federer served for the match at 5-4 and 40-15 in the third. But Del Potro stormed back to force another tie-break which he breezed through 7-2 to claim 6-4 6-7, 7-6 triumph. "I'm still shaking. I cannot believe I'm here with this trophy, beating Roger after a great battle. I was really angry after the second set but I was lucky in the last tie-break I played well and finally I got the trophy."
'Federer great for the sport'
Del Potro was also keen to praise World No. 1 Federer after the match. The defending champion was looking to win his sixth Indian Wells crown and his third title of 2018. "I want to congratulate Roger, for a great week, for great success in this historical year. You are making history and I'm so happy to be behind you, seeing what you do and it's amazing for our sport and for life," Del Potro said.
Roger remains World No. 1
Meanwhile, Federer remained in the number one spot in the singles rankings with 9,660 points. Del Potro jumped to sixth place. Federer, the 20-time Grand Slam champion, reclaimed the top spot for the first time since October 29, 2012 last month when he overtook Spain's Rafael Nadal following his victory at Rotterdam Open.
Croatia's Marin Cilic remained in third spot, ahead of Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov and Germany's Alexander Zverev.
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