Roger Federer and Dominic Thiem will play the men's singles final at the Indian Wells Masters on Sunday. The match will start not before 3:30 PM, which is around two hours later than the previous years. They are tied on 2-all in the head to head meetings as the Austrian won in 2016 Stuttgart and 2016 Rome, while Federer prevailed in 2016 Brisbane semifinals and last year's ATP Finals round robin. The Basel native seeks his 101th career-title including his sixth here, Thiem will play for the 12th crown overall. Out of clay, he won at 2016 Stuttgart, 2016 Acapulco, 2018 St. Petersburg. Both have gone through an opponent's withdrawal: Rafael Nadal retired from the semifinal against Federer, Gael Monfils from the quarter against Thiem. But before that, Angelique Kerber and Bianca Andreescu will face each other for the first time in career. Both of them are playing the Indian Wells finals for the first time in career. In press conference Kerber commented on how she managed to go through times: "When you have not the best results you are thinking about this, that you played so well in the last few years, last year, and you are always trying to coming back stronger, but you have always the up-and-downs. You cannot be on top the whole year playing the best tennis. This is what I have learned also during the last years, but it's important to playing consistently and always trying to do your best. This is sometimes not so easy, because you are feeling sometimes not so good. Then you have tough days, as well, and on the other day, you're feeling good. So it's not so easy to handle all these situation also off court. But I'm always trying to finding a way to, yeah, playing as good as I can on this day. Of course I'm looking back on these days where I beat all the players, and I have been the No. 1 player in the world, winning Grand Slams. So it's always in my mind, which will be forever, I think."<doc-sep>Clive Brunskill/Getty Images Dominic Thiem upset Roger Federer 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 in the final of the 2019 BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, California, to earn his first title of the ATP Tour season. This is the second year in which Federer lost in the final at Indian Wells. Juan Martin del Potro topped him in three sets in 2018. The victory gives Thiem a 3-2 head-to-head advantage over Federer. Both players will now turn their focus toward the Miami Open, which begins Monday. "It's unreal," Thiem said of his win in his post-match interview, per Jose Morgado of Portuguese paper Record. "I had to get used to Roger's game. He was playing amazing in the first set, but I fought into the match after getting a bit lucky in the start of the second set." The first two sets were mirror images of one another. Federer broke Thiem's serve in the second game of the match and opened up a 4-1 lead. Thiem broke back in the seventh game to trail 3-4, but Federer responded immediately with another service break and held serve in the ninth game to win the set. Thiem didn't dwell on his slow start. He broke Federer in the fourth game of the second set and built up a 4-1 lead of his own. That one service break proved to be the difference in the set. Video Play Button Videos you might like Thiem was particularly effective on his backhand side. When he had time to measure up the shot, his backhand down the line was almost untouchable. Thiem's confidence grew the longer the match went on. Along with that, he started throwing more power behind his groundstrokes. Although Federer remained sharp as ever, Thiem was striking the ball on a different level. Federer attempted to counteract Thiem's baseline game by rushing the net when he could in order to cut down on the angles available to the Austrian. The strategy was successful for the most part, but Federer might have outthought himself when serving with the set tied 5-5. Leading 30-15, Federer tried to lure Thiem to the net with drop shots on back-to-back points. On each occasion, Thiem sprinted up and pulled a rabbit out of his hat with a winner. The momentum of the match turned completely, and Thiem won four of the next five points to secure the win. Calling Sunday's win a breakthrough for Thiem might be a stretch. He was the runner-up in the 2018 French Open and a semifinalist in 2016 and 2017. This is, however, his first ATP Tour Masters 1000 win. The 25-year-old went toe-to-toe with one of the most legendary players in tennis history and was the last man standing. This wasn't a case of Federer throwing the match away, either. To some extent, the back-to-back drop shots illustrated how desperate he was to get the edge on Thiem after little else was working. The Miami Open gives Thiem an opportunity to continue building some momentum before the clay-court season gets underway.<doc-sep>Thiem will face Federer, who advanced to the final via walkover after Rafael Nadal withdrew (knee). INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Dominic Thiem outlasted Milos Raonic 7-6 (3), 6-7 (3), 6-4 on Saturday to reach the BNP Paribas Open final after Roger Federer advanced when Rafael Nadal withdrew because of a knee injury. A somber Nadal announced his withdrawal a couple hours before he was scheduled to take the court at Indian Wells Tennis Garden. “I warm up today in the morning, and I felt that my knee was not enough good to compete at the level that I need to compete,” he said. Federer was warming up on another court at the same time as Nadal and figured the match was on. However, Nadal soon texted him it wasn’t going to happen. “It’s a big letdown,” said Federer, who came on court in khaki shorts and a gray cardigan to address fans. “I know the anticipation is there from the crowd and also us players. I’m excited to be in the finals but not this way.” The 32-year-old Spaniard’s right knee flared up in the second set of his 7-6 (2), 7-6 (2) victory over Karen Khachanov on Friday in the quarterfinals. He twice called for a trainer, who applied tape just below Nadal’s knee. It was obvious that Nadal’s movement was hampered. Nadal said he won’t play again until the Monte-Carlo Masters on clay in mid-April. “I don’t have doubts today that I will be ready for Monte Carlo,” he said. It would have been the 39th career meeting between Nadal and Federer, who seeks a record sixth title at Indian Wells and the 101st in his career on Sunday. “I know every one we have now could be our last,” Federer said. “It’s a special rivalry, maybe the most special with Rafa and Novak (Djokovic).” Sunday’s women’s final features 18-year-old Canadian wild-card Bianca Andreescu against two-time major champion Angelique Kerber. Thiem reached the semifinals via walkover after Gael Monfils withdrew from their quarterfinal with a strained left Achilles. Against Raonic, Thiem earned the only break of the third set in the fifth game. He led 5-3 and served it out, winning on his second match point with a backhand volley. “The only break point I had to save was in the last game, and that was what I wanted to do, to play my service games well and not let him have too many chances,” Thiem said. Thiem and Federer have split their four previous meetings, with only one going three sets. Federer won the last time they played at the ATP Finals in London in November. “It’s always something special to play him,” he said. Thiem has never won a Masters 1000 title, losing in two previous finals. Knee problems have dogged Nadal for years, and they cut short his 2018 season after the U.S. Open in September. He was forced to quit two sets into his semifinal against Juan Martin del Potro. Nadal choked up discussing his withdrawal last fall, and he appeared near tears on Saturday. He admitted that he sometimes is sad because he feels at a disadvantage against his opponents due to his continued knee issues that force him to limit his practice and playing time. Then he gathered himself, saying, “It’s not the moment to complain much. With all this stuff, I still where I am today.” The year began promisingly enough. Nadal didn’t drop a set in reaching his fifth Australian Open final, where he lost to Djokovic. He’s ranked No. 2 in the world and has a match record of 11-2. “Still tough because I felt more or less OK during this beginning of the season in terms of my knee,” he said. “Now it starts the process that I have to decide what direction we have to take to recover well and to recover as soon as possible.” Even with all of his injuries, Nadal indicated he has no intention of giving up playing on hard courts, the surface for two of the four Grand Slam events. “My goal is to play on all the surfaces,” he said. With time to fill before the women’s and men’s doubles finals, Djokovic and Pete Sampras teamed for a one-set doubles match against John McEnroe and tournament director Tommy Haas. Comedian Jon Lovitz served as chair umpire.<doc-sep>Rafael Nadal set up a semi-final against old foe Roger Federer Rafael Nadal was physically hampered by a knee injury but dug deep to defeat Karen Khachanov and set up a dream semi-final with Roger Federer at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells on Friday. The Spaniard was given a tough workout by the world No 13 and was forced to battle through the pain barrier to complete a 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-2) victory. After winning a tight opening set, Nadal was forced into taking an injury time-out early in the second with tape applied under his right knee. But he shortened the points and came through another tie-breaker to complete a resilient win after two hours and 16 minutes. Assuming he does take to the court, Nadal will face his great rival for a 39th time. He told Amazon Prime: "I had some troubles with the knee. It was some tough moments but I was able to fight and finally find a way. "Hopefully I will be ready (for the semi-finals), I'm going to try my best to recover and play one of these matches that I want to play." Federer beat world No 67 Hubert Hurkacz to reach the last four Federer stayed on course for a record sixth Indian Wells title after recording a 6-4 6-4 victory against Hubert Hurkacz. The Pole defeated Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov to reach his first Masters 1000 quarter-final, but 37-year-old Federer enjoyed the first career meeting with Hurkacz, who is 15 years his junior, giving him a schooling en route to victory in 73 minutes. "Roger was playing great in the crucial moments. Today was a great lesson for me," Hurkacz said. "I had some small chances, so also give me motivation to work and to get there sometime." Federer has not dropped a set in four matches in the desert and has been broken just once. He fought off two break points in the second set, including the last game when he closed the match with a forehand winner off a short ball to reach his 12th semi-final in the desert. Federer reached his 12th semi-final at Indian Wells Nadal leads Federer 23-15 in meetings but the Swiss has won the past five encounters. They have not met since Shanghai in 2017, the same year that Federer crushed Nadal in the fourth round at Indian Wells. Federer warned fans not to read too much into his winning streak against Nadal. "I lot has happened in the past 18 months," he said. "You can't just copy and paste and play exactly the same thing again. "It's been quite a journey with Rafa side by side." The other semi-final will see Austrian seventh seed Dominic Thiem tackle Canadian 13th seed Milos Raonic. Teenager Bianca Andreescu reached the final after dumping out Elina Svitolina In the women's semi-finals, Canadian teenager Bianca Andreescu became the youngest player to reach the final at Indian Wells in 20 years after the teenager beat Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 6-3 2-6 6-4. "This past week, its been a dream come true playing in front of these amazing crowds," Andreescu said in a courtside interview after putting her name alongside Serena Williams who reached and won the 1999 final at 17. "Today, I believed in myself playing against these top players. I've watched them play so many times on TV so its so incredible to play against them and win." Angelique Kerber is into her first final at the Indian Wells Andreescu, 18, will face three-time Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber in the title match after the German beat Belinda Bencic 6-4 6-2. "I was trying to focus only on my side of the court. I was trying to play concentrated, and going for it when I had the chance, Kerber said. "I'm really happy to be in the final for the first time now." We have the tennis season covered from all angles via our website skysports.com/tennis. On the move? Head to our app for mobile devices and iPad, or follow our Twitter account @SkySportsTennis to join in the conversation.<doc-sep>
0:33 Rafael Nadal says he won't play again until mid-April at the earliest, after a knee injury forced him to pull out of the semi-finals of Indian Wells Rafael Nadal says he won't play again until mid-April at the earliest, after a knee injury forced him to pull out of the semi-finals of Indian Wells Rafael Nadal withdrew from his BNP Paribas Open semi-final with Roger Federer, allowing the Swiss great to reach his ninth Indian Wells final. The pair's much anticipated 39th meeting failed to materialise on Saturday as confirmation of the Spaniard's withdrawal due to a right knee injury came moments before Dominic Thiem and Milos Raonic got the day's play underway. Having not faced off since Shanghai in 2017, there were high hopes of a thrilling encounter but after initial reports that Nadal had practiced without problems, suggestions to the contrary began to emerge. Eventually confirmation came, along with the news that the Spaniard would also miss the Miami Open. "I warmed up today and I felt that my knee was not good to compete at the level I needed to compete in semi-finals," Nadal told the tournament's official website. "It's tough for me to accept all these things that I'm going through in my career. Sometimes I feel sad because I'm in a disadvantage to all my opponents. "[I need to] be positive and grateful for all the things tennis has given to me. I feel fortunate for all the things I've done in my life and the world of tennis." It means Federer is into a third successive Indian Wells final and having been beaten by Juan Martin del Potro in a thriller last year, he will hope to claim his sixth title in the Californian desert, two years after his last which came after victory over Stan Wawrinka. The 37-year has eased through the draw without dropping a set and having made history by joining Jimmy Connors in the 100 club with his title success in Dubai a couple of weeks ago - he is on track for 101 when he faces Thiem in Sunday's final. Dominic Thiem reached a third career Masters final with victory over Milos Raonic The Austrian emerged victorious from a titanic struggle against 2016 Indian Wells runner-up Raonic, winning 7-6 (7/3) 6-7 (3/7) 6-4 to set up a fifth career meeting with Federer who will be playing in his 49th Masters final. In contrast it is Thiem's third, having reached the Madrid Open final in each of the last two years, but the Austrian is more well-known for his prowess on the clay - only three of his 18 career ATP finals have been on hard courts, including his last title in St Petersburg last year. Federer has not claimed a Masters title since his Shanghai success over Nadal and the fourth seed has lost just once this season - his fourth round defeat to Stefanos Tsitsipas at the Australian Open - and has won both his hard court meetings with Thiem without dropping a set. Nadal remains without a title since Toronto in August last year and a win over Federer since the Australian Open in 2017 but with a four-week break he will re-emerge for the clay-court season in Monte Carlo before yet another French Open at Roland Garros. We have the tennis season covered from all angles via our website skysports.com/tennis. On the move? Head to our app for mobile devices and iPad, or follow our Twitter account @SkySportsTennis to join in the conversation.