Indian Wells According to Iron Man … aka Roger Federer

We would say it sorta felt like Roger woke up on the wrong side of the bed for the final, but considering his grumbly attitude and general Shankerer issues all week, it was perhaps more like he woke up on the wrong side of the tournament.

Juan Martin del Potro, however, had been cruising through the draw, cranking winners left and right with what looked like ridiculous ease. He’d been calm, collected, and basically just Awesome.
 

And things escalated quickly in the Indian Wells final against Fed, as DelPo’s FEARhand and a fully operational Death Star backhand started doing serious damage.
 

 
Federer kept himself close, but his usually very reliable strengths were not always at his disposal when he needed them…
 

 
Del Potro took the first set, 6-4. So the Maestro decided it was time to put the Angry Eyes in…
 

 

Tennis ❤️ pic.twitter.com/Z4qINq1XgT

— Simon Häring (@_shaering) March 18, 2018

The thing about putting the Angry Eyes in, though, is that sometimes that anger spills out in other ways. His monologues get louder and feistier, and his contempt for linespeople who are wrong–and damn that HawkEye as well–can escalate.
 

Does he care that maybe his anger is a bit misplaced? Or that Fergus the umpire is going to need some heavy alcohol consumption after dealing with His Royal Highness Federer?

Nope.
 

His fans don’t mind the temper so much, either. But many of them do mind if he hits more than one shank per set. And there were…more than one per set.
 

 
But we were rather enjoying it…
 

This is some high-quality tennising. And pretty much how the week has been going–DelPo effortlessly making big shots and sharp angles, and Rog being super scrappy and winning points any way he can.

— Tennis Inside Out (@TennisInsideOut) March 18, 2018

If Federer had thought the Coric match was his toughest, this DelPo match was turned up to 11. This was going to require some more aggressive strategizing…
 

(Article continues below.)

The battle on court raged both with killer tennis and some drama, as the two opponents started to get on each other’s nerves. As Fed griped about bad line calls, DelPo had much to say to Fergus about crowd noise. He was particularly angry about how it was interfering with his service motion concentration…
 

 
Fed was not impressed with Juan’s kvetching…
 

…and eyerolled his way to a victory in the second set TB, 10-8. And then things got even more intense in the third set, when Federer took the only shot he could with DelPo looming at net — and smashed it right at the Argentine.
 

Smasherer offered an apology right then, but DelPo wasn’t interested…
 

…and then Federer had Match Points!

He was ready to wave, and speechify, and get surrounded by hordes of beaming fans.
 

But…
 

Del Potro saved match points, evened the match, and then things really got bloody in the tiebreak…
 

Del Potro won the match, with a soul-crushing 7-2 scoreline in the 3rd set tiebreak.
 

And as usual, with these two, as much radioactive venom that they shoot at each other during the match, as soon as it’s over, DelPo is ready and willing for that bear hug…
 

 

What a moment. What a champion.

Juan Martin del Potro became the first Argentine to win the Indian Wells title with a gritty three set win over five-time champion Roger Federer.

🎥: @TennisTVpic.twitter.com/XdpZy2ooyL

— BNP Paribas Open (@BNPPARIBASOPEN) March 19, 2018

Federer fans were crushed. He’s set the bar so high now, with such ridiculous levels of achievement, anything other than a two-billion-match winning streak feels like a massive heartbreaker.
 

Okay, Rog. So let’s celebrate Juan Martin del Potro’s long overdue and well-deserved Masters win!
 

 

Watch Moët Moment as @delpotrojuan celebrates winning the @BNPPARIBASOPEN crown, his first #ATPMasters1000 title.

Watch: https://t.co/4ZhI29GOAm pic.twitter.com/0fYtLCvBVP

— ATP World Tour (@ATPWorldTour) March 19, 2018

Also, earlier that day…
 

 

 

"This is probably going to be the worst acceptance speech of all time" – @BNPPARIBASOPEN champion @Naomi_Osaka_

We beg to differ! #BNPPO18 pic.twitter.com/4XpckdmLtq

— WTA (@WTA) March 18, 2018

BUT WE STILL LOVE YOU, ROGER!!

 

No, but really, it’s all good! Plenty more victories and kick-ass SCIENCE ahead!
 

**Thank you for reading, and please share and like and RT and all that good stuff if you enjoyed our craziness!

You might also like: The Australian Open According to My Cousin Vinny