Federer, Hewitt Advance to Indian Wells Final
Posted on March 20, 2005World No. 1 Roger Federer, who had lost to Guillermo Canas in their only meeting in the pre-Fed-as-No. 1 days, punished the Argentine 6-3, 6-1 to advance to the final Saturday at the ATP stop in Indian Wells.
"I'm very happy the way I'm playing," Federer said. "You know, I had to actually fight to actually really play well today. He was giving me a hard time. I had a few tough couple of games. You know, once I got through that, my rhythm really started to pick up and I started to play better."
In the final the Swiss will face Lleyton Hewitt, who weathered 25 aces from Andy Roddick to edge the American 7-6(3), 6-7(2), 7-6(4).
"I'm disappointed, but I'm not upset because I feel like I played a really good match," Roddick said. "I really kind of switched up the strategy and I feel like I applied my game plan pretty well. And I think it took -- I know it took the best of Lleyton tonight."
On the line for Federer is 16 consecutive wins in finals, while Hewitt has now won three in a row over Roddick.
"Any time you play a third-set tiebreaker, it's a lucky door prize a little," Hewitt said. "I just felt like I dictated play when I needed to. I hustled when I needed to I got those extra balls back when I needed to."
Federer has won his last six meetings with Hewitt, with the last two coming at the 2004 Masters Cup.
In the doubles final, top seeds Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor edged Aussie No. 7 seeds Wayne Arthurs and Paul Hanley 7-6(6), 7-6(2) for their first title of the year.
"I'm very happy the way I'm playing," Federer said. "You know, I had to actually fight to actually really play well today. He was giving me a hard time. I had a few tough couple of games. You know, once I got through that, my rhythm really started to pick up and I started to play better."
In the final the Swiss will face Lleyton Hewitt, who weathered 25 aces from Andy Roddick to edge the American 7-6(3), 6-7(2), 7-6(4).
"I'm disappointed, but I'm not upset because I feel like I played a really good match," Roddick said. "I really kind of switched up the strategy and I feel like I applied my game plan pretty well. And I think it took -- I know it took the best of Lleyton tonight."
On the line for Federer is 16 consecutive wins in finals, while Hewitt has now won three in a row over Roddick.
"Any time you play a third-set tiebreaker, it's a lucky door prize a little," Hewitt said. "I just felt like I dictated play when I needed to. I hustled when I needed to I got those extra balls back when I needed to."
Federer has won his last six meetings with Hewitt, with the last two coming at the 2004 Masters Cup.
In the doubles final, top seeds Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor edged Aussie No. 7 seeds Wayne Arthurs and Paul Hanley 7-6(6), 7-6(2) for their first title of the year.