Indian Wells

I didn’t write this week. I wanted to wait until the seeds finished their opening rounds which meant I couldn’t think about the week that was until late Sunday night. Unlike Marcos Baghdatis who feels that if he works at tennis it’s too much like a job I know blogging is not just sitting down in front of a computer and generating pearls of wisdom. It’s work and I was raised to always do the best I can at whatever I do. So I started thinking about this recap about Wednesday and how I could explain Roger’s march towards tennis history and how the rest of the men are battling each other for a chance at second place which is currently quite adequately occupied.

There were lots of good stories too. Michael Russell, a true journeyman, has been playing very well and deserves some ink. Juan Carlos Ferrero has been showing signs of life. The tennis press is letting Blake have his image is everything moment and talk about golf instead of the disaster he created in Las Vegas which seems to have been the death blow for the ATP’s experiment with Round Robin play. Andy Roddick is once again said to be on track to the top. Andy Murray got a haircut. Rafa is wearing a doo-rag as one fan put it. I like the bandana but different strokes for different folks. Pova is wearing the same dress she wore at Melbourne. So much for her being a fashionista. She must not have seen “The Devil Wears Prada”. Miranda Priestly would not be amused. Bethanie Mattek actually wore tennis clothes although another wag said it looked like she shopped for them at the WTA discount store. Ms Mattek also attacked the WTA for only promoting one player and ignoring the myriad personalities that make up the WTA. There is a large contingent of Asian women playing this event. Berdych and Youzhny were in the house as well. The Rochus brothers, Soderling, everyone who is anyone in the ATP showed up. The WTA, not so much.

All of this deserves discussion and I’m sure at some point these things will indeed be discussed. But right now there is only one story. The star of this fable is a man who, at 29, has come back to the tour he left in disgrace eighteen months ago after being found guilty of doping. Guillermo Canas of Argentina is named for Guillermo Vilas the former Argentine great. No one gave him much of a chance against Roger Federer, the man who is called “Superman” by some, a living legend before he has even finished playing; a man who seems to need only to show up at an event in order to win it. Roger’s parents were in the seats talking casually with a friend. His girlfriend was seen to be more concerned with keeping cool in the sun than whether or not her man was going to win this match. I don’t think much was said about who was in Canas’ box other than his coach and trainer. After all it didn’t matter did it? Canas’ was destined to be one more speed bump in the road for the steamroller named Roger.

Then a funny thing happened. A tennis match broke out. Canas managed to break the great man. He managed to win the first set. Winning a set at 7-5 is mental some say. Canas was mental. He was playing great, fundamental tennis. Take what your opponent is giving you and counter it. Roger wanted short, quick, mentally deflating points. Canas kept playing that extra ball, making that extra shot and suddenly there was an injury time out. Roger later said that the tape on his feet wasn’t sticking properly.

I remember Roger being upset when a then unknown kid from Spain took a set from him at 6-2. “I never lose a set 6-2,” I remember him saying. He won that match when the kid tired in the final set. Canas beat Roger 6-2 in the second set yesterday afternoon in the California desert. During that set there was another injury time out, this time for a blister. It should be noted that during the first time out I was looking for the Chief from “Grey’s Anatomy” or at least the resident orthopedic surgeon Cally O’Malley to weigh in with a diagnosis. Never has so much attention been afforded a tape job.

Canas has been away due to his own idiocy. If he is capable of playing the tennis he played yesterday why was he using something he shouldn’t have been? Maybe the time away cleared his mind and made his goals clearer. They said that his friends made sure he stayed match fit. He worked. (There’s that word again Marcos.) And he never joined the Cult of Roger. The Canas that showed up on the court yesterday is someone the tour will have to reckon with. I’m sure Guillermo had to, as one tennishead said, give hair, nail, blood, skin and urine samples after the match. To Roger’s credit he didn’t blame the sun, moon or the stars. He lost a match. The earth is still turning on its axis. He played his doubles match. The blisters he said were no big deal.

Today Canas takes the court again to play Carlos Moya. At twenty nine I’d think Guillermo would have some issues playing back to back. Moya has been playing well of late. Everyone will be watching to see how Guillermo fares. It’s just like getting a break of serve – it’s not a break unless you hold serve after it. If he makes it through all bets are off for the top half of the draw.

As “AmonRa”, a long time tennis observer said in his post about the match Canas’ win is good for the sport. Eight of the nine men ranked after Roger would have found a way to lose yesterday. Guillermo Canas showed that truly, on any given day, anyone can win and anyone, even a tennis god, can lose and that there is no excuse for anyone to just roll over and play dead because the guy across the net from him is “just too good”. Haruka said after the match that she was glad to see there was another real man on the tour. I don’t expect to hear anymore bleating from the Other Eight going forward. Go out. Play your game to the best of your ability and maybe, just maybe, you get to the next round That is why you play. And that is why fans pay to see you play.