Federer claims record-equaling title at Indian Wells

Federer defeated Isner 7-6 6-3

Roger Federer claimed a record equalling 19^th Masters Title after defeating American John Isner in straight sets 7-6 6-3, in the final of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.

Rain and wind once again made their presence felt in the proceedings as heavy cross court gusts tinkered with the player’s games. Federer who flourished in similar conditions yesterday against Nadal adjusted well to the conditions and won a majority of his first serve points. Isner too managed to tackle the wind and backed up his serves with good ground-strokes to keep the match on serve.

Play was halted at 3-2 in the first set due to rain. When it eventually resumed the sun was shining and the conditions started to improve.

Isner was the first to gain break points but failed to convert all three of them. Federer’s first break point of the match was also his first set-point, but Isner pulled out a rocket serve to force a tie-breaker.

Having played two exceptional tie-breakers against Djokovic a day before, the second of which included hitting seven consecutive first serves, Isner had a tremendous chance to claim the set. He claimed the first mini-break too, but gifted it away immediately and handed the break to Federer. Federer double-faulted at 5-4 to bring things back on level and had another set point at 6-5 on Isner’s serve. But a shanked attempt at a passing shot by Federer, which Isner left, only to see it land on the baseline, gave Federer his fourth set point. He claimed the first set 7-6 (9-7) with an unreturned first serve.

In the second set, both players started serving well but Federer was clearly at greater ease with the situation than his opponent. After six quick service games in 18 minutes, Federer made the initiative and created a couple of fantastic passing shots to break Isner to 15. He remained solid on his service game, dropping only one point in four games, while claiming another break to clinch the set and the match in 1 hour and 20 minutes.

Isner’s magnificent run this week will see him rise to the top 10 for the first time and certainly earn him more respect. He made a strong case as a potential top American on tour. For Federer, the win fetched him a hefty $1 Million. But more importantly, it also fetched him his 73^rd title, a record equalling 19^th title at the Masters and 1000 precious ATP ranking points.

On to Miami!

Roger vs Rafa: The 28th Helping

A typical Federer vs. Nadal match is not unlike an exquisite dish you would expect in a fancy restaurant. That rich and succulent tennis these two serve made of those delicately put together points, a combination of good-old fashioned finesse with bold and conspicuous strength, all topped with a generous dressing of brilliance.

In short, it makes your mouth water.

However, their most recent offering was closer to street food than to fine dining – tangy and unpredictable, yet brilliant and enjoyable.

After close to four hours of delay due to rain in the Californian desert of the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, the venue for the 28^th instalment of this contest, when the match finally got under way, it was under very tricky conditions – gusty winds and a chilly temperature of around 12° Celsius. And generally, variable conditions are something Nadal enjoys more than Federer. This is illustrated by both Nadal’s success in rain affected matches and Federer’s in indoors.

The start was a déjà vu from their last match in the Australian Open. Federer racing to a 3-0 lead and Nadal catching up to make it 3-3. But even in these opening rallies it was evident that something in the Rafa machinery was not functioning properly. Federer on the other hand, seem unperturbed by the conditions. Serving with a first-serve percentage higher than in the rest of the tournament, he was able to blaze away winner after winner with ease. In the next three games in which Federer won 15 out of 20 points, including a chaseable drop shot at set-point, to clinch the set 6-3.

Having passed through one déjà vu, many Federer fans might have been fearing another one in the second set, given what happened in that match in Australia. But their worries were short lived. Federer carried his first-set form into the second and Nadal carried his woes. A terrible sounding forehand and a moan of a serve, both of which barely reached the net gave Federer an opportunity to go up two breaks of serve, surely enough to settle the match for good. Nadal held on in that game from 15-40 down, but was broken the next time he had to serve, giving Federer his first chance to serve for the match.

But if there ever was a match in which Rafa did not put up a resistance then you are making things up. With what was, surprisingly, only his 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th forehand winners of the match, Nadal broke Federer and completed his hold to ask Federer to serve again for the match. Once more he went ahead to a 15-30 lead before the drama turned all the way up.

After bringing the scores to 30-30, the crowd witnessed one of the best rallies of the match, in which control switched almost after every two or three shots. Eventually a net-corded back hand set the ball for Nadal to play a cross-court backhand which pulled Federer wide on his forehand setting up a short ball for Nadal to dispatch cross court for a clean winner. Only, it struck the net cord and stayed on his side. It started to rain and play gets halted at Match Point. Both players were asked to sit while the chair-umpire examined the court for signs of slipperiness. After a few minutes of mopping the lines, during which the players and the crowd were twitching and buzzing loudly, play resumed. And in one swift motion, Federer fired his 6^th ace of the match to clinch victory in 1 hour and 31 minutes.

Back in the final for the first time since his third title here in 2006, Federer will face-off against John Isner. The tall American shocked the entire tennis world by defeating World No. 1 and defending champion Novak Djokovic. Already assured of a top 10 place, victory in the final will make him the top ranked American, surpassing Mardy Fish. Having defeated Federer earlier this year in a Davis Cup tie, his odds are certainly good as he looks to stop the Swiss from claiming a record-equalling 19 masters titles and claiming his first.

Origami and more...

1. From a relative anonymity to the Hall of Fame - the jump that Marcos Baghdatis made in the sport of racket smashing.

Sure you have heard of the champions of this sport.
Goran Ivanisevic is undoubtedly one of the greatest. A Wimbledon champion and a fine tennis player. Finer than him were the pieces of his equipment after he was done with them. This is what he said after his semi-final against Kafelnikov -

"I was pretty nice to the racket all last week. I was surprised how easy it broke. Maybe there is something wrong with it, or I'm too strong."

Another famous champion is the Russian, Marat Safin. If you were to consider only his racket smashing reputation, then this man should be sending shivers down the Russian Duma (all 140% of them). He is estimated to have smashed over a thousand rackets in his career.
In his own words, the logic behind his passion for racket origami -
"Today I smash rackets, for tomorrow we die."

Safin: Using the Force to destroy this particular one

Even the great Roger Federer is a nondescript in this sport. Then how did Marcos Baghdatis achieve his feat, you might ask. In a highly explosive fit of rage in the match against the Swiss, Stanislas Wawrinka, the Cypriot destroyed not just one or two, but FOUR rackets, all within a minute, before smiling, accepting a code violation and resuming the game.

Thank goodness Cypress is no longer a part of Greece.


2. Clash of the Canines - A poor joke that can be made on two very talented youngsters on the circuit.
But the Aussie, Bernard Tomic (read more about him here) and the Ukrainian, Alexandr Dolgopolov (nicknamed Dog) match up to showcase the most extraordinary brand of tennis. As Vijay Amritraj pointed out -

"If Ferrer and Hewitt played a match, no doubt it will be of excellent quality, but they will end up playing the same point over and over again.

They will come no where close to matching the variety of these two youngsters."

          

And in a true display of rising confidence, the younger Tomic battled past Dolgopolov in five electrifying sets to advance to a personal best fourth round in the Australian Open and set up a clash with four-time champion Roger Federer. This performance also justifies his new title of being Australia's No. 1.

3. After shattering and grinding all records, and then sweeping them and throwing them into the bin, all in one Wimbledon match, one would have thought he'd had enough of five set marathons.
But clearly, five set marathons have not had enough of John Isner.

The American giant with a powerful service game had two of them, back to back. Against the Argentinian, David Nalbandian, he went on for 4 hours and 41 minutess before winning 10-8 in the fifth set, which alone lasted for 99 minutes. And against the Spanish lefty, Felicano Lopez, he toiled for 3 hours and 26 minutes. But this time he ended up on the losing side.

Isner: After someone kidded that they're abolishing tie breakers.

Of course, these encounters do not compare at all with that Wimbledon match (Isner's, not the 08 final). But it would seem Isner is making himself into a professional long-distance runner.

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Read the first of the articles on the One Hundredth Australian Open here.