Roger Federer and Andy Murray will have shaken the desert sand out of their shoes these past few days as they acclimate themselves to the Florida breezes in preparation for the Sony Ericsson Open on Key Biscayne.
Just how successful they will be in moving past the worrying performances at Indian Wells is one of the most fascinating questions raised as we head into this ATP Masters 1000 tournament, regarded by many as the fifth most prestigious in the world.
Federer, a man of supreme inner confidence, will question the assertion that his semifinal loss to the man of the moment, Novak Djokovic, was "worrying." As he pointed out afterward, he has been playing some great tennis this year, following up his title-winning performance at the ATP World Finals in London in November last year by reaching at least the semifinals in every tournament he has played since. He won Doha without dropping a set and then looked very much like the man who has collected a record 16 Grand Slam titles by reaching the semifinal of the Australian Open, the final of Dubai and the semifinals again at Indian Wells. On each occasion, however, it was Djokovic who beat him.
Does this constitute a crisis? Federer insists it does not. But the way he has allowed opportunities to slip out of his grasp reveals the troublesome nature of his defeats at the hands of the rampant Serb. At Indian Wells, Federer had gone a break down at the beginning of the third set and promptly responded by breaking Djokovic to love with some of the flashing stroke play that has long been his hallmark. Suddenly, Djokovic's unbeaten run appeared to be under threat as the momentum swing continued with Federer moving smoothly to 40-15 on his own serve at 2-2.
Then the Fed Express inexplicably went off the rails. For no discernible reason, a forehand and a backhand flew long and a double fault handed Djokovic a second break out of nowhere. Worse still, more errors spun off the Swiss racket, allowing Djokovic to rack up no less than 11 straight points. At such a critical juncture of the match, it was a disastrous slump against a man who had scored such recent successes against him, and defeat became inevitable.
Federer's game, like the finest Swiss watches, is pinned by exquisite timing. And the timing does not come just from that moment when racket strings make contact with the ball. It needs to be underpinned by the legs. If he is a quarter-step slow in getting set for the shot, a routine backhand up the line can fly five feet long. And on this occasion it did.
"I guess he escaped," was the best Federer had to offer when questioned about his sudden third set reversal. He will have examined the situation a little more thoroughly with coach Paul Annacone and members of his support staff and, given his draw at the Sony Ericsson, he can forget about Djokovic for the time being at least. A possible meeting with Andy Roddick in the quarters and Rafael Nadal in the semifinal will require his more immediate attention.
Andy Murray would love to be in the position of having lost to only one player this year. With all due respect, the American Donald Young is no Djokovic, but Murray managed a first-round loss to him at Indian Wells with a performance that was deeply concerning.
For the second consecutive year, Murray does not seem to be able to recover mentally from losing in the final of the Australian Open. Reaching the final of a Slam is a seriously good achievement, but the Scot appears increasingly weighed down by the pressures of trying to give Britain its first male Grand Slam winner since Fred Perry did so in 1936. He played way below his best throughout this period of the tour last year and must now find a very quick remedy for this mental malaise if he is not to do long-lasting damage to his confidence.
John Isner, the 30th seeded American who has won only four tour matches this year in five tournaments, is another player whose confidence seems to be shot at the moment and, as the pair could meet in the third round, one can anticipate a match that will be played almost entirely in the mind, no matter how well Isner serves or Murray returns. Sports psychologists should have a ball with this one.
