World No. 4 Roger Federer will take on 2018 Roland Garros finalist Dominic Thiem in the final of Indian Wells on Sunday afternoon. Federer is going for his second consecutive title of the season.
Roger Federer and Dominic Thiem meet for the fifth time on Sunday in the BNP Paribas Open title match. Their head-to-head series is tied 2-2, but neither of Thiem’s wins have come on hard courts. The last time the Austrian beat Federer was in 2016 on the grass courts of Stuttgart, but the two men met just a few months ago at the Nitto ATP Finals–where the 20-time major champion gave Thiem a straight-set shellacking.
This is going to be something of an uphill battle for Thiem. Federer is in fine form and has been since he plowed through the draw in Dubai to take the title. Thiem, by contrast, went into Indian Wells off a first round loss on his preferred surface of clay to world No. 90 Laslo Djere. The Austrian ended up working himself into form throughout the week…and also got a bit lucky when the red-hot Gael Monfils withdrew with an Achilles’ tendinitis injury.
Thiem is typically known as a clay-court specialist; he defeated Rafael Nadal in Madrid in 2018 and fought his way to the finals of Roland Garros. Federer doesn’t have quite the reputation on hard courts as Nadal does on clay, but it’ll still be a big ask for Thiem to get the win.
The Swiss is enjoying far better form than Thiem at the moment. The slower courts at Indian Wells will help level the field a bit, but if Federer plays well it’s hard to imagine him losing.
Cheryl pick: Federer in 2
Ricky pick: Federer in 3
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