Indian Wells 2008 Diary
INDIAN WELLS OVERVIEW -- SERBIAN SURGE, FEDERER BLUES, TASTY FISH WITH CHIPS

INDIAN WELLS, California -- This cozy desert retreat surrounded by interesting mountains and interesting tennis players for two weeks abruptly became a Serbian satellite. Although you wouldn't mistake this territory for a suburb of Kosovo - or do I mean Serburb? -- here were Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic, satisfying an itch by taking over one of the more important tournaments, the Pacific Life Open.

No surprise really. Ana and Novak are part of the Serbian Surge with their eyes on the No. 1 pennant, and it's a good bet that they'll get there before too long. But the surprises were Roger Federer and Mardy Fish - remember them?

Hard-working Koozy (Svetlana Kuznetsova) was and wasn't a surprise: she beat favorite Maria Sharapova, then unstartingly maintained her status as a specialist at losing finals (8 of the last 9), a 6-4, 6-3, victim of Ivanovic. Mardy missed out on being a surprise-plus in a fine final losing effort to Djokovic, 6-2, 5-7, 6-3.

OK, Roger is No. 1, and you can't call him Fed ex and be serious about it. But he isn't the Roger we've grown admiringly accustomed to. He looks tired and played tired - as he did in Australia. That's where Mardy Fish came in, playing the tournament of his erratic life to send Federer startlingly early in the direction of Key Biscayne, Fla., with a 63 minute bashing, 6-3, 6-2, in the semis.

Mardy, who nearly made the affair seem like Mardy Gras as 16,000 people daily cheered his parade through names such as Nikolay Davydenko, Lleyton Hewitt and David Nalbandian, beating the last two in 3-set thrillers.

Then he jumped on Federer like a desperate guy from the lower depths - which ex-U.S. Davis Cupper Marty is, with a No. 98 ranking weighing him down like a millstone. Not for long, I suspect. He says he found himself in the desert, and I believe him - rising 58 lengths to No. 40 - his desert dessert.

I asked Federer about his off-day performance, and it turned into a brief colloquy:

"Are you well, Roger?"

"Are you well, Bud?"

"Yes, but I don't have to run anywhere."

"I didn't run much today either."

No, But when he did he was usually a step behind. Is he completely done with mononucleosis that slowed him in Australia? Makes you wonder. Well, I'm not practicing medicine, but he is the last guy to cop a plea, to admit he's not 100 per cent. "The Swiss are stoic," said a friend of his. "They never call in sick."

Certainly not from the delightful Indian Wells Tennis Garden, where losing must be the least painful, amid acres of grass and flowers, azure sky, the encircling crags, appreciative customers and an army of cheerful volunteers at the core, such as Mary Caprielian, the press steward, and Adele Robbins, transportation chief.

Federer acknowledges that he'll be under a lot of pressure at the next stop, Key Biscayne, to show that he's ready to look No. 1-ish again.

But for the doomsayers, remember that Roger lost two in a row a year ago, both to Willie Canas, the quick Argentine, here and at Key Biscayne. Not long after that he played miserably in an early Italian Open loss to homeboy Philippo Volandri. Nevertheless, he had a splendid year, sacking three majors. Nobody since Suzanne Lenglen wins every match.

Probably Federer should have skipped the Australian where he lost in the semis to his successor as champion, Djokovic. But if it's a major involved, Roger would play if he needed a walker to run.

Djokovic, taking his 9th career title, decided to remove his cap as the 3rd set began, despite the 90 degree temperature. Fish jumped him, winning the first 3 points: 0-40. Whereupon, like a magician, Djokovic pulled 3 aces out of his discarded hat to erase 3 break points. Those were deciding, demoralizing blows.

"Well, actually, I had them up my sleeves," he laughed.

Much more will come out of those sleeves.

<<<Back