Djokovic and Federer vie for Indian Wells crown
Originally published on 16/03/14
The pair will meet for the 33rd time in their careers at Indian Wells, with world No.8 Federer on an 11-match unbeaten run following his 6-3 6-1 victory over Alexandr Dolgopolov in the semi-finals.
Federer, champion in Dubai last month, is chasing a fifth title at the Masters 1000 event in California, while Djokovic has lifted the title on two previous occasions – in 2008 and 2011.
World No.2 Djokovic, who defeated John Isner 7-5 6-7(2) 6-1 in the semi-finals, expects a close match against the 17-time Grand Slam champion.
“Whenever we play each other it's always a huge challenge for both of us and very few points can decide the winner,” he said. “I just hope for myself that I will be able to perform on a high level, because I'm going to need to do that in order to get a chance to win against him.”
“I don't think that especially in the last 15 matches we played against each other there was a clear favourite, I would say. We played a lot of great matches in Grand Slams and Masters 1000 series events. I look forward to it. It's always a challenge in every way for me to win against Roger.”