World No 1 Roger Federer suffered a stunning 7-5, 6-2 upset
defeat by Argentine Guillermo Canas in the Pacific Life Open second
round on Sunday.
Former world No 1s Lleyton Hewitt and Marat Safin also bowed
out, the former losing 7-6, 4-6, 6-2 to Serb Janko Tipsarevic and
Russian Safin going down 6-3, 4-6, 6-0 to Frenchman Nicolas
Mahut.
Briton Andy Murray, the last man to beat Federer, reached the
third round, however, along with Australian Open runner-up Fernando
Gonzalez and eighth seed Ivan Ljubicic.
Federer, seeking his fourth Indian Wells Masters Series title in
a row, received treatment for blisters at the end of the first set
and looked sluggish throughout as his 41-match winning streak was
ended by the world No 60.
The Swiss ten-times grand slam champion, whose last defeat was
inflicted by Murray in Cincinnati in August, was hoping to break
the professional era record of 46 successive wins set by Argentine
Guillermo Vilas.
Federer said the pressure of closing on another record had not
contributed to his defeat.
"It's no pressure at all because I take it match by match,"
Federer told reporters. "I'm concerned about winning my first round
match against a lucky loser.
"It just shows you how tough it is. Today was just a grind for
me from the start. First-round match is always difficult, but I've
had an incredible run, not losing in the first round for over two
years. So I'm really happy about that. Sooner or later it had to
happen, so it's OK."
Federer celebrated his 161st consecutive week as world number
one last month, breaking the 30-year-old record of American Jimmy
Connors.
"It's great to beat the number one, I feel perfect," the
29-year-old Canas told reporters. "I dream about this, but I didn't
expect it. I have confidence in my game but I know it's gonna be
tough."
Canas outplayed Federer from the baseline, never allowing the
top seed to control the centre of the court and sealing victory
with a powerful inside out forehand.
Canas, who achieved his career-high ranking of eighth in 2005,
returned to the tour last September after serving a 15-month
suspension for a doping offence.
He lost in last round of qualifying for the tournament to German
Alexander Waske, but earned a place in the draw when Belgium's
Xavier Malisse withdrew due to injury.
Murray, seeded 13th, eased past South African Wesley Moodie 6-3,
6-3 to reach the third round.
Passing shots
The 19-year-old Murray blunted Moodie's serve and volley attack
by firing his returns low to the South African's feet and cleverly
reading his opponent's passing shots.
The British No 1, winner in San Jose this year, broke Moodie
three times and was broken just once. He next faces Mahut who upset
23rd seed Safin.
"I returned pretty good today," Murray said. "High percentage of
first serves, didn't make too many unforced errors, so it was a
solid match."
No 11 seed Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic was not so lucky
as he lost 7-6, 6-4 to American journeyman Michael Russell.
Spanish seventh seed Tommy Robredo lost to Gilles Simon of
France 6-7, 6-3, 6-0, and No 17 Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus went
down 7-5, 7-5 to Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain.
Fifth seed Gonzalez of Chile and Nalbandian advanced to the
third round with three-set victories over Canadian Frank Dancevic
and German Philipp Kohlschreiber respectively. Ljubicic struggled
past Colombian Alejandro Falla 6-7, 6-4, 6-4.
(China Daily via Agencies March 13, 2007)