Would 2012 Roger Federer win Indian Wells 2025?

[Boomski]

I recently went back and watched all of Federer's matches in Indian Wells 2012.

Apart from a pretty average Kudla, he fought off an inspired Belllucci, dealt with the newcomer Raonic who was already really good, destroyed Del Potro and Nadal in straight sets and then quite easily finished off Isner in the final. The level Fed displayed at this tournament was simply sublime and if you ask me it would likely be enough to win the upcoming edition of the tournament.

A 20+ minutes look back at Roger Federer's level in Indian Wells 2012:

So fellow tennis fans, how would this Federer do in 2025?

 

[MeatTornado]

Alcaraz is the only obstacle, but it's a big one on this court.

 

[nolefam_2024]

2011 USO till 2012 Cincinnati was very strong 52 weeks from Federer.
On HC he had ATP finals, 3/6 masters, and 3 500s along with close loss to Djokovic and Nadal in the slams.

He would be even bet vs Alcaraz today. Sinner is banned otherwise he probably would be even ahead of Federer in 2025.

 

[GRASScaraz]

He would lose to prime Ruud

 

[inflation_era]

All of today's competition would be destroyed by Fed's competition, save MAYBE Sinner (with PEDs).

 

[nolefam_2024]

The amount of ATP points Federer had during this time on hard courts is roughly similar to Federer 2017 even more.
Fed in 2017 won 7200 pts, vs during this time Fed won 7950.
Legit ATG Hard court level barely shy of his 2004/05/07 level and that was due to missed Match point in USOpen 2011

 

[Mustard]

Of course he would.

 

[Boomski]

He would lose to prime Ruud

Prime Ruud wouldn't even manage to sniff Söderling's racquet

 

[Third Serve]

Fed was really good that edition of IW, especially in non-ideal conditions. Tough to see how anyone in this field could take him down.

Of course, I'd need to see the 2025 tournament play out to give a better judgment.

 

[nighthawkrr]

Prime Ruud wouldn't even manage to sniff Söderling's racquet

Angry Ruud though!

 

[buscemi]

No Sinner. No Djokovic. Alcaraz just lost to Lehecka in Doha. Zverev lost back-to-back QF on South American clay.

We'll see how everyone ends up playing at Indian Wells this year, but, if 2012 Federer were playing now, he'd be the clear favorite.

 

[nolefam_2024]

No Sinner. No Djokovic. Alcaraz just lost to Lehecka in Doha. Zverev lost back-to-back QF on South American clay.

We'll see how everyone ends up playing at Indian Wells this year, but, if 2012 Federer were playing now, he'd be the clear favorite.

Djokovic is playing in iw. Who said he withdrew ?

 

[buscemi]

Djokovic is playing in iw. Who said he withdrew ?

Oh sorry. I thought he had withdrawn. Now I see he says he's healthy enough to play.

 

[smoledman]

Probably would romp it.

 

[Galvermegs]

2012 was a last great year before djokovic totally dominated the mid years of the decade. However there are a few players that would trouble this fed in todays play. Not sure if they would win but hr might need a long 3 setter at some point.

 

[buscemi]

2012 was a last great year before djokovic totally dominated the mid years of the decade.

I mean, some guy named Nadal had a pretty decent year in 2013

 

[Third Serve]

One of Fed's best kits too

 

[Galvermegs]

I mean, some guy named Nadal had a pretty decent year in 2013

I know rafa did his usual clay stuff.. how else would he stay in the high ranks so long. 2013 just pushed novak into that merciless hardcourt streak against his good friend.. a bit like serena against sharpova if not quite so one sided away from hc.
Fwiw i love watching clay tennis even if im not that good at it.

 

[Mustard]

I know rafa did his usual clay stuff.. how else would he stay in the high ranks so long. 2013 just pushed novak into that merciless hardcourt streak against his good friend..

Nadal on hardcourt in 2013 won Indian Wells, and the Canadian Open, Cincinnati and US Open triple. Federer and Djokovic never did the latter triple.

 

[Racquet_smash]

A better question would be: "Would 2012 Federer lose a set in 2025 at Indian Wells?"

 

[socallefty]

Will the slow 2025 balls hurt Federer?

 

[Martin J]

He was dealing with some kind of cold during the first couple of matches and didn't look convincing, but from the QF he played incredibly well, especially against Nadal where he finally gave up on predictable playing patterns and started targeting Ned's FH with his own BH, hitting it with pace.
He also handled Isner pretty well, whose stellar performance against Djokovic showed how tricky opponent he could be when zoning, he was serving bomb after bomb and clearly frustrated Djok.

One of the last finest prime(is) Fed's runs on HC. I could definitely see him winning the 2025 edition, even with complete field.

 

[Galvermegs]

Nadal on hardcourt in 2013 won Indian Wells, and the Canadian Open, Cincinnati and US Open triple. Federer and Djokovic never did the latter triple.

I know. Thanks. I greatly enjoyed rafas wins
But my point is about federer losing his combined grasscourt and hardcourt dominance steadily over time.. with 2012 his last real showing for a long time.

Someone else brought up rafa. So i just wanted to make it clear novak had a small set back in 2013 but was still setting the pace for most of the 2010s and early 2020s. Rafa has a 4-1 record in us open finals but still fewer finals than djokovic or federer. However neither nadal or even djokovic has defended the us open. It has become the hardest major to defend for quite some time as well.