Posted by Peter Bodo, TENNIS.com
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. -- By now you all know the news: Roger Federer was bucked off his horse at the Pacific Life Open yesterday by Argentina's Guillermo Canas. He had a little business to take care of in the moments following that seismic event (I swear, if an entire city could gasp, this one did), which consisted of marching right back on the court, bloody and unbowed, to join his childhood buddy Yves Allegro in opening a can of whup--- on David Ferrer and Tommy Robredo in the doubles.
Imagine that: a top player waving off his press conference and anxiety-laden fans worldwide to… play doubles! Man, this guy is so old school that he'll probably walk out for a match one of these days in long white woolen slacks: Fancy a bit of tennis, colonel?
After Federer put in the hard yards to improve his record on the day to 1-1, he did meet with the press. I asked him what, if anything, his peers had said when he walked into the locker room a beaten man. Was anyone around? He replied: "No, they don't look at me when I walk in now too much."
This was signature Federer: He's capable of making statements that are, at face value, lethal arrogance bombs, but nobody calls him on it, and for a couple of good reasons: First, he drops these bombs in the most congenial manner. Second, he inhabits a different reality, and not just from yours and mine -- it's different from that of his rivals, too. And lastly, just like your mother said, you should never look directly at the sun. This dude is like some Aztec sun god and nobody wants to go blind.
Of course, I couldn't help speculate what the other contenders here at Indian Wells might have done or thought when they heard that Federer had lost.
Andy Roddick, I imagine, was kicking back with Jimmy Connors, watching a replay of -- yep! -- the 1991 U.S. Open, where Connors made that amazing, autumnal run to the semifinals (you know, yellow racket, "Hi, Vitas," poor Aaron Krickstein). When they got the news, Connors leaped off the couch and cried, "Holy cow! Get your stuff, Andy, we better get out there and hit some!"
Rafael Nadal, I presume, was working on his short game (he's become a golf nut -- why should Federer be the only other Nike guy who's got Tiger Woods personal cell number?). When Tio Toni told him, Jet Boy looked momentarily dumbfounded. Then he picked out a wedgie, rolled a 28-footer into the cup from the apron, and said, "I knew it. He's ducking me, no?"
The No. 4 seed, Nikolay Davydenko, who was over at the a hair salon getting a few plugs inserted, just shrugged. "I get to the semis and lose, it don't matter to who."
The next three highest seeds -- Fernando Gonzalez, James Blake and Ivan Ljubicic -- had no comment. All of them had fainted.
