2005 Pacific Life Open News
By Alix Ramsay  |  March 20, 2005

Roger Federer is not doing badly for a chap who is supposed to be having an iffy year. When he lost to Marat Safin in the semi finals of the Australian Open, the sharp intake of breath could be heard all the way to Geneva. Federer? Losing a grand slam title? Has the world gone mad? Well, that's the end of Federer's domination then.

Sure enough, he had not been at his sparkling best in Melbourne but it took Safin at his absolute, eye-popping best to beat Switzerland's favorite son. It was hardly a collapse from the master.

But if anyone had any doubts about Federer's strangle hold on the men's tour or, indeed, his determination to maintain his position as the very best in the business, they only need look at his efforts in the California desert. On Sunday, in the warm and soporific sunshine, he walloped Lleyton Hewitt 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 to win his second Pacific Life Open title.

And for anyone who is still not convinced of Federer's brilliance, just take a look at the numbers. It was his fourth title of the year, it was his 17th consecutive victory in a final, the man has only been beaten three times since Wimbledon last year, he is so far ahead of the rest of the field that even if he does not win another match from now on, he will remain as world No.1 until deep into the summer.

Against Hewitt, he stated his case in the first couple of minutes, breaking the Australian with relative ease in the opening game and settling into his position as front runner. Hewitt had seen it all before. As he is willing to point out, Federer is setting the benchmark for everyone in the game but, Federer apart, Hewitt is the most consistent player in the world at the moment. If it were not for that Swiss magician, Hewitt would have regained the top spot.

On paper there was little to separate the two men as the final began. They had been sparring partners since 1999 with Federer just leading their rivalry 8-7. Hewitt's problem was that six of those Federer victories came in the last year, including the 6-0, 7-6, 6-0 thrashing he gave to the Australian at the US Open final. In all their meetings in 2004, Hewitt was allowed to take just two sets.

The match was summed up by just one point, a 45 stroke rally at the start of the second set. It was fantastic stuff to watch with both men chasing and lunging to flick back drop shots and run down lobs and, in the end, Hewitt emerged the winner. Federer just shook his head and grinned. Hewitt had run himself ragged to save a break point and stay within sight of his rival while Federer had only just missed out on the chance to twist the knife and take the early lead.

"I've never played a point like that before," Federer said. "My game is all about my footwork and when I'm moving well, I play well. This week I've been playing and feeling fantastic."

Hewitt made a slightly better show of it in the third set but by then he was flinging everything he had at Federer. Forced to go for broke on every shot, his first serve percentage dropped to a miserable 27 percent which hardly helped his chances. No matter - he broke the mighty Federer serve. Alas, by that time he was already two breaks down himself. Pushing Federer all the way, he still could not prevent the champion from serving it out and claiming his $455,000 winner's check.

"I knew the danger, don't worry," Federer said of Hewitt's last ditch efforts. "He changed up his game and started playing flatter like I've never seen Lleyton play before. It made me a little nervous. I'm glad I managed to win it in straight sets."

As for his plans for the rest of the year, Federer is thinking big. While mere mortals believe that the only way from the top is down, Federer has other ideas.

"I think the biggest challenge for me is to repeat everything I did last year," he said, "but it's going to be tough because I already messed up the Australian Open. The French hasn't worked out for me the last couple of years and I'll make sure that doesn't happen again. And I really want to win Wimbledon again."

The rest of the world has been warned.

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