In a riveting men’s final at the BNP Paribas Open, Juan Martin Del Potro narrowly defeated Roger Federer. Del Potro won 6-4, 6(8)-7, 7-6(2). This is the Grand Slam champions first ever Masters 1000 title, and his first final appearance since 2013. To reach the final, Del Potro fought his way through David Ferrer, Philipp Kohlschreiber, and Milos Raonic.

Del Potro got a strong start into the match when he broke Federer for 3-2 and won the first set to love on his serve. In the second set, Federer had regrouped, but was clearly feeling the pressure and showing agitation in his exchanges with the umpire. Each player held serve until the tiebreak. Del Potro held a match point at 7-8, but could not close and Federer,  took the tiebreak 10-8 on a lost serve.

Both players had tense exchanges with the chair umpire. Federer declined to comment on the details, but attempted to explain, “I think I was just also just trying to pump myself up more, you know, to get energy for me…. It had no effect on the outcome of the match. I think we both went after the umpire for different reasons or the same reasons in different moments. He's got a tough job sometimes and sometimes not, so depends on how you take it.” Del Potro explained: “Roger and me were nervous during the whole match, and we felt that on court. And that's what I talk too much with the umpire, because in the important moments he was taking important decisions who could change the way of the match, but I think he did well and it was more personal reason than what he does.”

The third set was off to an intense start in the first game, when Del Potro held served but allowed Federer to take him to deuce twice before closing. The two players held to 4-4, at which point Federer broke Del Potro to 5-4. In the following game, Federer failed to close the match in the third set, losing three match points on his serve at 5-4. Del Potro broke for 5-5 and they held to a final set tiebreak. Del Potro breezed to a 5-0 lead, proceeded to lose two match points, and finally closed the tiebreak and the match at 7-2.

When Federer held match point, Del Potro could not help but think about his own mishit that lost him a match point in the second set, “I was still thinking about my forehand miss and my forehand error, mistake in the match point. And, I mean, it's my shot, my forehand from that side of the court. I never miss that forehand.”

Reflecting on the match, one of the greatest tennis players of all time echoed a sentiment any recreational player can relate to after a tough loss. Federer explained his frustration: “I started badly. Bad return first up. He had a good return after that. I don't know. Just probably took some wrong decisions, you know, along the way. I lost my serve a little bit and then he was clean, and I wasn't. Then it goes very quickly in the breaker. As close as it can be sometimes when you're not feeling it, or momentum has shifted, it's just crazy how it can go the other way. But, you know, I had already missed my opportunities then, but I still – standing at the trophy ceremony, I think I would like to play that tiebreaker again, because I don't know what the hell happened. But it's okay. You know, it happens sometimes.“

Del Potro, not surprisingly, leaves ordinary players with a more positive message as he reflected on the journey it took to win his first Masters 1000 title: “I couldn't imagine this moment. I mean, everybody knows I was really close to quit tennis before my third surgery on my left wrist. And after that, I made a big effort to come back and play tennis with the slice. Then with my backhand, it wasn't good to play at this level. But then during the Olympics game, my tennis life change again. I took a good way to feel happy again with tennis life. I won the Davis Cup and I say, Okay, I don't have any more pressure to play tennis because I won everything what I wanted except Masters 1000 (smiling), but today I did. So, I just – I have everything what I want, and I want to keep improving my game to see what can I do?”