Roger Federer is the only male player to have won a Masters 1000 tournament after turning 35

A lot of parallels can be drawn between Roger Federer's 2017 season and Rafael Nadal's 2022 season. At the age of 35, both players won the Australian Open unexpectedly to mark their comebacks and both won 20 of their first 21 matches of the season.

One major difference in their respective seasons is that while Nadal fell in the final of the Indian Wells Masters to Taylor Fritz on Sunday, Federer won the tournament in remarkable fashion five years ago. By doing so, he became the first player to win a Masters 1000 tournament since turning 35. No other player aside from Federer has managed to achieve the feat.

It should be noted that Richard Pancho Gonzales, Ken Rosewall and Rod Laver have also won similar tournaments in the '60s and '70s after they turned 35. The Grand Prix tennis circuit and the World Championship Tennis (WCT) were integrated into the modern ATP tour in 1990.

The 2017 Indian Wells triumph also marked the World No. 26's record-equalling fifth title in the desert. Seeded ninth in the tournament, the former World No. 1 defeated fifth seed Rafael Nadal in the fourth round in straight sets.

The 40-year-old was slated to take on Nick Kyrgios in the quarterfinals but the Australian withdrew from the match with an injury. In the semifinals, he defeated 17th seed Jack Sock to set up an all-Swiss clash with Stan Wawrinka in the final.

Wawrinka also fell in straight sets to hand the 20-time Grand Slam champion his second title of the year and 25th Masters 1000 title.

Rafael Nadal won the 2021 Rome Masters at the age of 34 years and 11 months. After the 21-time Grand Slam champion, the third position on the list is, unsurprisingly, held by Novak Djokovic. The World No. 1 was 34 years and five months old when he won the Paris Masters last year.

Rafael Nadal could join the World No. 26 on the list by winning the Monte-Carlo Masters next month. Djokovic, on the other hand, will have to wait until May 22 to be eligible for the record. With both the Madrid Masters and Rome Masters ending before then, the Serb will have to wait at least until the Canadian Masters in August to join the list.

Roger Federer won 3 more Masters 1000 tournaments after Indian Wells triumph

Roger Federer has won four Masters 1000 tournaments after turning 35

Following his 2017 Indian Wells Masters triumph, Roger Federer went on to win three more Masters 1000 titles. The first came at the Miami Masters later that year where he was seeded fourth.

The Swiss defeated 29th seed Juan Martin del Potro (third round) and 14th seed Roberto Bautista Agut (fourth round) in straight sets to reach the last eight. In the quarterfinals, Tomas Berdych stretched the World No. 26 to three sets but could not prevent him from reaching the semifinals.

Nick Kyrgios once again took the former World No. 1 to three sets, but Federer progressed to the final, where he defeated Rafael Nadal in straight sets to complete the Sunshine Double.

The 40-year-old won the Shanghai Masters the same year, defeating del Potro (semifinals) and Nadal (final) again. The 20-time Grand Slam champion's most recent Masters title came at the Miami Masters in 2019. Seeded fourth, the Swiss defeated Daniil Medvedev (fourth round), Denis Shapovalov (semifinals) and John Isner (final) to win his 28th Masters title at the age of 37.