The second round of the first Tennis Masters event of the season, the Pacific Life Open at Indian Wells, is completed today. All eyes will be on Stadium court today which features three-time tournament champion Roger Federer and red-hot American Andy Roddick.
Federer looks to end his two-match losing skid when he takes on Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. While fighting mono, Federer is 5-2 on the season with a semifinal at the Australian Open (l. to Djokovic) and opening round loss on Mar. 3 in Dubai to Andy Murray. The last time Federer lost three consecutive matches was the summer of 2002 when he lost four straight. The 26-year-old Swiss native is 21-4 lifetime in Indian Wells, winning 18 of his last 19 matches since 2004.
Roddick meets Tommy Haas, who has beaten the American three times in nine tries. But the German is coming off a fourth shoulder surgery while Roddick just won Dubai without dropping serve.
Also seeking spots in the third round today David Nalbandian, Andy Murray and Nikolay Davydenko.
Nalbandian test rising teen Ernests Gulbis and Davydenko faces 6-foot-9 John Isner. Murray meets Marat Safin-conqueror Jurgen Melzer.
The seeds had little trouble Saturday, led by defending champion and No. 2 Rafael Nadal along with last year’s finalist and No. 3 Novak Djokovic and American James Blake. The three seeds who lost (all in three sets) were No. 10 Tomas Berdych (to Stan Wawrinka), No. 26 Jarkko Nieminen (to Hyung Taik Lee) and No. 32 Feliciano Lopez (to Donald Young).
In the U.S., Fox Sports Net will air coverage this afternoon, check your local listings. Live streaming from four courts is available online by clicking the banner below:
