Juan Martín del Potro rallied from three match points down in the third set and beat top-ranked Roger Federer 6-4, 6-7, 7-6 to win the BNP Paribas Open, handing the world No1 his first loss of the year.
Del Potro held a match point at 8-7 in the second-set tiebreaker, but he lost the final three points on his own errors and allowed Federer to force a third set.
They were on serve in the third until Federer broke for a 5-4 lead with a backhand winner off del Potro’s serve. Federer had a chance to serve out the match, holding two match points but del Potro staved both off to force deuce and broke to force a deciding tiebreak.
In the tiebreaker, Del Potro raced to a 6-1 lead, helped by two Federer double faults. He closed out the win on his third match point when Federer’s forehand failed.
“I’m still shaking, I’m so nervous,” said Del Potro after the match. “I was thinking [about missing match points]. I played really well in the [third set] tiebreak ... It’s like a dream after all my problems and surgeries. I’m excited to keep surprising the Tour.”
In the women’s final, Japan’s Naomi Osaka routed Daria Kasatkina of Russia 6-3, 6-2 in a matchup of 20-year-old rising stars. It was the first title of Osaka’s career.
Osaka’s victory capped a run that included beating two-time winner Maria Sharapova, No5 Karolina Pliskova and top-ranked Simona Halep. She dropped one set in seven matches. Osaka will rise from 44th to a career-high No22 in Monday’s WTA Tour rankings.
“I don’t really know what’s going on right now,” Osaka said, smiling. “I really feel like I have another match I have to play tomorrow, and it didn’t really sink in that I won.”
Osaka needed just 70 minutes to dispatch Kasatkina, who had an equally impressive showing in the desert. Among those the Russian beat was US Open winner Sloane Stephens, Caroline Wozniacki, Angelique Kerber and Venus Williams.
