Defending champ Roger Federer posted his tour-leading 25th victory of 2005 on Saturday to set up a showdown with Lleyton Hewitt in the final of the Indian Wells Masters Series event.
Four-time grand-slam winner Federer fired seven aces en route to a 6-3, 6-1 win over Guillermo Canas in the first of two semifinals on Saturday.
The 23-year-old Swiss, who is ranked number one in the world, is off to a personal-best 25-1 start this season and has not dropped a set so far in Indian Wells.
”I had to actually fight to really play well today,” said Federer, who is riding a 16-match winning streak in finals. ”He was giving me a hard time.
”I had a few tough couple of games. Once I got through that, my rhythm really started to pick up and I started to play better.”
Federer will meet Australian second seed Hewitt in Sunday’s best-of-five-set final.
Federer’s victory was a reversal of his only previous meeting with Canas, in which the Argentine prevailed 7-6 (12/10), 7-5 three years ago in Toronto.
If Federer wins on Sunday, it will be the 26th title in a career that also includes four grand-slam crowns.
He dominated Tim Henman 6-3, 6-3 in last year’s Indian Wells final.
Federer hammered 32 winners and made 23 unforced errors to Canas’s 20 winners and 23 unforced errors in the 72-minute match.
Canas broke Federer’s served in the fifth game of the first set and then held serve to level it at 3-3. But that was as close as he would get as Federer won nine of the next 10 games to close out the victory.
”The players I face know they don’t have to just watch out for my forehand or my serve on big points,” Federer said. ”I have a strong belief in what I am doing right now.
”I can rely on so many strengths because if something doesn’t go right, maybe a shot, I can compensate with different strengths in my game.
”I think that is what makes me extremely tough to beat at the moment.”
Asked if he senses that his opponents are intimidated by him in the same manner Pete Sampras used to throw a scare into people, Federer said: ”No, not yet. I am still too young. When I looked across the net at Pete Sampras, he was 29 or 30. That’s intimidating. But 23 years old, you know, maybe not quite yet.”
Hewitt is seeking to become a three-time winner in Indian Wells after having won back-to-back titles in 2003 and 2002.
”I am happy with where my game is at right now,” Hewitt said. ”It is taking the best players, to play their best tennis, to beat me.”
Hewitt weathered a barrage of aces from Roddick and had his serve broken just once in the match in the fourth game of the second set. Hewitt hammered 10 aces and made just 37 unforced errors to Roddick’s 53 unforced errors.
”I was waiting for my opportunity on the big points,” Hewitt said. ”I play the percentages.”
Hewitt now holds a commanding 6-1 career record against Roddick, winning five of their eight tiebreakers.
The last time they met was in the semifinals of the 2005 Australian Open, where Hewitt prevailed 3-6, 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/4), 6-1.
Roddick lost on Saturday despite blasting 25 aces and hitting 69 winners to Hewitt’s 63 winners.
”It’s a loss and it is terrible,” Roddick said. ”It’s disappointing but this is a lot better than when I played against him [in the Australian Open].
”I hit some shots I wanted to hit and I made him come up with some good shots.”
Roddick bristled when it was suggested he has trouble closing out matches.
”I am trying to think of a polite way to answer that,” said Roddick after a long pause. ”I don’t know if it is possible to achieve a certain level of success without being able to know how to close.
”I have closed out matches, been number one in the world, won a grand slam … but the bottom line is I was also playing a guy today who has done all those things.”
Sunday’s final will be best-of-five sets. Playing longer doesn’t bother Federer.
”Best-of-five will make it more special,” Federer said. ”But it should be the same in all Masters Series finals.”
Hewitt looks forward to the challenge of facing Federer, who has captured titles in Doha, Rotterdam and Dubai this year. The key will be attacking Federer’s precision serve.
”He is going to be tough,” Hewitt said. ”His serve sets up points so well for his game and then he can dictate them with his forehand.
”His backhand used to be the weaker part of his game, but that’s improved over the last two years.” — Sapa-AFP