REUTERS: A rejuvenated Roger Federer beat fellow Swiss Stan Wawrinka 6-4 7-5 in the BNP Paribas Open final on Sunday to earn a record-tying fifth Indian Wells title and the distinction of being the tournament’s oldest winner.

The 35-year-old Swiss, who made a stunning return from a six-month injury layoff to win the Australian Open in January, capped an impressive run in the California desert in which he did not lose a set.

“I have totally exceeded my expectations. My goal was to be top eight by Wimbledon. This is just a dream start,” Federer, who will climb four spots to world number six on Monday, told Sky Sports courtside.

“I understand the talk about (me getting back to) world number one with Andy (Murray) and Novak (Djokovic) not playing well and I’ll try to back it up. But this is my 90th (tour-level) title so I’ll try to enjoy this first.”

The rematch of the Australian Open semi-final saw the close friends hold serve until the 10th game of the opening set when Federer, ahead 5-4, outlasted Wawrinka in a thrilling 21-shot rally for the service break.

Wawrinka, making his first appearance in an Indian Wells final, came out firing in the second set as he became the first player to break Federer this fortnight and then saved a pair of break points in the next game to move ahead 2-0.

But Federer never wavered as he coolly won the next three games and then broke Wawrinka in the 12th game to close out the match in 80 minutes.

On championship point, Federer jumped right on Wawrinka’s serve and quickly had his compatriot running back and forth along the baseline.

Finally, when Wawrinka reached out desperately to send a forehand back, Federer charged to the net and slammed down a running forehand to clinch the title.

While the defeat left Wawrinka an emotional wreck, with the teary-eyed U.S. Open champion calling himself Federer’s “biggest fan”, the popular champion was left to soak up a standing ovation.

Federer now joins Djokovic as a five-time winner at the event and becomes the oldest champion in the tournament’s history, surpassing Jimmy Connors who was 31 when he triumphed in 1984.

“I was very sad when I couldn’t come here last year so just being here is a beautiful feeling,” Federer said during the trophy presentation.

Vesnina outlasts Kuznetsova in marathon Indian Wells final

REUTERS: Elena Vesnina survived a battle of attrition and nerves to beat fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-7(6) 7-5 6-4 in the BNP Paribas Open final on Sunday and secure the biggest title of her career.

After more than three hours in the scorching midday sun on the Indian Wells hard court, Vesnina finally clinched victory on her second championship point when eighth seed Kuznetsova sent a service return long.

The win marked by far the biggest title of Vesnina’s career and will boost the 30-year-old to 13th in the world rankings, surpassing her current career-high of 15th reached last month.

Vesnina stared defeat in the face, down 4-1 in the second set before reeling off four consecutive games after starting to play more aggressive in an effort to keep the points short and conserve energy.

“I was playing a bit more free when I was down in the score and I think Svetlana got a bit tight on some moment and I saw that and I just took my chances,” Vesnina, whose previous WTA titles came at Eastbourne and Hobart in 2013, said in a courtside interview.

“I was trying to get rest. My dad (and coach Sergey) said ‘come to the net, put pressure on her’ and it worked.”

The 14th seed collapsed to the court with a mixture of ecstasy and exhaustion after the final point, before the combatants hugged at the net.

Neither player served particularly well. There were 16 breaks in the 34 games and Vesnina dropped serve seven times, but that was better than her opponent, and proved to be the difference.