That’s the verdict of sports broadcaster David Law, who claims that was the second best performance he has ever seen from the Argentine.
In a fiercely entertaining final, Federer and Del Potro traded blows as tempered flared throughout the match.
Both players clashed with the umpire for different reasons and were hammering shots at each other as they fought for the win.
In the end it was Del Potro who came out on top, winning 6-4, 6-7, 7-6.
There was one moment during the game that drew gasps from the crowd when Federer smashed a half volley into the body of Del Potro.
And Law believes that proved to be the 36-year-old’s downfall.
“When he did get drilled with that backhand he did get angry,” Law said on the Tennis podcast.
“He was already hitting the ball incredibly well and then he went into otherworldliness power because it was like a hurricane coming through the Indian Wells tennis garden.
“The rallying balls that Federer was putting in were just being clobbered for clean winners and the other thing that really struck me was how well Del Potro played at the net.
“There was a few times Federer tried his really exaggerated slice that drops and… sight-wise Del Potro looks like he’s lumbering but when he was getting to the net and he’s so big it was hard to get it past him.
“Federer was just absolutely whacking the ball at him with all sorts of spin on it and Del Potro is just stepping out the way of it and middling it away for clean winner volleys.
“That’s the second best I’ve ever seen Del Potro play, second to the US Open final but it was similar.
“There were times during both of those matches when it felt as though Roger Federer was using a pea-shooter against a tank and he’s a powerful guy with weapons of his own.”