INDIAN WELLS, Calif. -- Roger Federer defeated Stan Wawrinka 6-4, 7-5 to win a record-tying fifth BNP Paribas Open title in the all-Swiss final.
At 35 years and seven months, Federer became the oldest champion in the desert tournament's history on Sunday, surpassing Jimmy Connors, who was 31 years and five months when he won in 1981.
Federer tied the tourney record of Novak Djokovic, who lost in the fourth round, while winning his 90th career title, keeping him third behind Connors and Ivan Lendl on the all-time list in the Open era.
Federer dropped serve just once in five matches, losing the first game of the second set against Wawrinka. Federer advanced to the semifinals via walkover when Nick Kyrgios withdrew.
In an all-Russian women's final, Elena Vesnina defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-7 (6), 7-5, 6-4.
Vesnina had never advanced beyond the third round in singles and just last year she lost in the first round of qualifying, although she has won three doubles titles at the tournament. She beat No. 2 seed Angelique Kerber and No. 12 Venus Williams on her way to the biggest final of her career at age 30.
Kuznetsova is 0-3 in finals here, also finishing runner-up in 2007 and 2008.
At age 31, Kuznetsova was the fifth-oldest women to reach the final. But the two-time major champion struggled playing with the lead as the No. 8 seed in front of hundreds of empty seats.
"I didn't feel good today because she was very aggressive and I was a little bit out of my game," Kuznetsova said. "I couldn't figure out a lot the wind and stuff like that. But still, I give a lot of credit to her because she was aggressive."
Kuznetsova led 4-2 in the third before 14th-seeded Vesnina broke her twice in sweeping the final four games of the match.
Kuznetsova served one of her nine aces to lead 4-1 in the second, prompting Vesnina to bring out her coach-father Sergey Vesnin for a chat.
It worked.
Vesnina reeled off four straight games to lead 5-4. Her forehand error led to Kuznetsova's break in the 10th game that tied it 5-all. But Vesnina broke back and served out the set 7-5.
Kuznetsova had luck on her side early, winning the first set on a net cord in the tiebreaker. She gave the traditional wave acknowledging her good fortune to Vesnina, who had blown leads of 2-0 and 4-2.
Vesnina had 46 winners and 49 unforced errors. She successfully gambled at the net, winning 24 of 32 points during the three-hour match.
Sports on 03/20/2017