Novak Djokovic clearly went into his Indian Wells final with Roger Federer thinking, This ends here; this ends now. After all, Federer has become the chief thorn in top-ranked Djokovic's side.
Sure, Djokovic tagged No. 2 Federer in the Wimbledon final in July, but nobody -- not Rafael Nadal, not Andy Murray, not Kei Nishikori (whom Djokovic lost to in last year's US. Open semifinals) -- has been quite as slippery and troublesome an opponent as Federer.
Djokovic hasn't been able to win back-to-back matches against Federer since the 2013 ATP World Tour Finals. In their last meeting, Federer beat the Serb in the Dubai final. Cherry blossoms in Washington D.C. may be blooming before the two potentially meet again in a few weeks' time on the red clay in Europe.
Up until the late second-set stages in Sunday's final, it looked as though Djokovic was going to make his point emphatically. He won the first set and led the second by 4-3 with a break and serve to come. But Federer mounted a spirited fight and called up some of that familiar Nole juju to snatch the second-set tiebreaker. The Swiss assassin ran out of steam in the third, but the message he sent was clear: It ain't over 'til it's over. To be continued, bub.
It's a pity the rivalry won't be continued at the Miami Masters, which begins Wednesday. Cashing in some of his old-guy chits, the 33-year-old Federer is taking advantage of an ATP rule that allow a player of his stature to skip otherwise mandatory Masters tournaments.
About a week ago, Federer let it be known that he was skipping Miami no matter what the outcome at Indian Wells. His reasoning was weirdly pessimistic: If he didn't don't do well at Indian Wells and/or Miami, he'd have spent the better part of an entire month across the ocean from home, with nothing more productive on his plate than a bit of practice -- after which he would just sit around in the hotel with his feet up and the rug rats tugging at the hem of his warm-ups.
Think there's any chance Federer might change his mind and ask for a wild card into Miami, in order to get another shot at Djokovic? No way.
Thus, Djokovic will enter Miami as a towering favorite, his mission clear: Add a fifth Miami title to go with the four he's now earned at Indian Wells (the same number as Federer). Djokovic and his current tormentor are the only active players who have won Indian Wells and Miami back to back. (Djokovic is hoping to join Federer as a two-time winner of the bicoastal Masters Slam.)
Nadal will be seeded No. 2 in Miami, but he has had a woeful history in the Key Biscayne finals (0-4). Murray, the No. 3 seed, has two Miami titles to his name but, having lost five straight to Djokovic, the sun-loving Scot has been reduced to understudy status.
With Federer out, Nadal struggling with his confidence and Murray no longer able to solve the Djokovic puzzle, it will be up to a motley and not overwhelmingly convincing cast of characters to keep Djokovic from earning his 22nd Masters 1000 title. (He currently trails Federer by two titles and Nadal by six.)
No. 5 Kei Nishikori, the chief beneficiary of Federer's disinterest, will be promoted to No. 4 seed. But Nishikori just took a disappointing loss at Indian Wells to 33-year-old and No. 12-ranked Feliciano Lopez.
Given how well Milos Raonic has been playing, and the confidence-boosting win he had over Nadal in the Indian Wells semifinals, the Canadian is as much a threat to Djokovic as anyone -- which may not be that much of a threat at all.
Djokovic hasn't utterly dominated Masters events lately, but he's coming close. He won four last year, including two outdoors on hard courts, one on clay and one on indoor hard court. When he gets to a final, Djokovic has been ferocious. He has won nine finals in a row, which is extra bad news for Nadal, given that they could only meet in a final.
On the WTA side, Simona Halep won her first premier event at Indian Wells on Sunday, clawing her way back from an enormous deficit against No. 18 seed Jelena Jankovic to take the title in a 2-hour, 37-minute three-set struggle.
Jankovic served to win the final in the second set, but once again her drama gene kicked in -- and the rest was pure theater best appreciated by fans of playwright Samuel Beckett. You remember, he's the writer whose quote -- "Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail Better." -- found its way onto Stan Wawrinka's forearm. On Sunday, it applied to both Halep and Jankovic when it came to holding serve. There were just 12 holds and 18 breaks.
Immediately after the match, a chipper Jankovic took the mic and told Halep: "You were running like two dogs, left and right. At the end I couldn't keep up."
It was an accurate assessment of the tenacious, No. 3-ranked Romanian's talent for turning matches into track meets. She'll be trying to do the same thing starting late this week in Miami, and she has good reason to feel optimistic. Serena Williams had to issue a walkover to Halep in the Indian Wells semifinals because of a knee injury. That leaves Williams' status as the prohibitive favorite in Miami in some doubt.
No. 2 Maria Sharapova will certainly be looking to do better than her fourth-round loss to Flavia Pennetta in the desert. Over the past 12 months, Sharapova has taken losses to Caroline Garcia, Timea Bacsinszky, Carla Suarez Navarro, Angelique Kerber and, at Indian Wells a year ago, Camila Giorgi.
Petra Kvitova, who missed Indian Wells, is also out of Miami -- citing continued "exhaustion," despite the fact the tennis year has barely begun. If Williams can't play Miami, the top four seeds will be Sharapova, Halep, Caroline Wozniacki and Ana Ivanovic.
Even without Federer, the all-time Grand Slam singles champion, in the mix, the top four men in Miami will represent a total of 24 major singles titles. Without Williams in the mix, the top four women will have accounted for six (five by Sharapova and one courtesy of Ivanovic).
As much as Federer may be missed, the possible absence of Williams would likely lead to a greater degree of chaos in this event. And if nothing else, that would present an interesting contrast to the stranglehold the ATP Big Four continue to have on the men's game.