6-3 / 6-4 Federer

baghdatis must be the only player in the top who looks a bit chubby.... if only federer makes him run, federer should win pretty easily.

Fed will win, but it won't be easy. Maybe two tight sets or may be even three.

is this happening tonight?

Yes it's the last match/headliner.

thanks :)

just got up this morn to watch the match, but no link! It's 3.12 a.m. and now have to wait until later in the day to watch it.Thought there may be some fans around to hang with, but no one out there (for now).


C'moon roger! I watched the first set again, against Hanescu, fed is playing really well, some "rusty" forehands and "careless" dropshots (just a sprinkling), but am sure as he picks his game up, this will improve.

Right ON ROGER!!! Way to go dude! One more set to go! C'MON! :)

hello sky! thought i was the only federer fan up this early! all i can do is what the livescore, i cant seem to get a stream.very frustrating. keep me posted if you can! thanks.

c'moon federer! this is a close, close set. Baggy is a great player.havent watched him much, but he is back from injury? and he is playing well!

Hi maxi, I can't watch the stream either, having to do the same as you. Baggy is good, but of course our man is better! :) One/one third set! C'MON FEDERER!!!

I'm feeling very free watching this game... the FED is GREAT! :) Wow is Roger going to break him now?! :)

C'MON! C'MON! LOL :)

Roger! Roger! Roger!

WOW! He DID it! :)

Great! 4 games to 1 now!!!

Baggy breaks back, much more interesting...

Very close match... go roger! Roger just held on for 6, Baggy is next ... Will it be a tiebreak?!

Wow good game Baghdatis! Roger, well you can't win them all...

The Mighty Fed is human after all...

Report:

Federer is out of Indian Wells and Bagdhatis has the last laugh. It was an enthralling match where Baghdatis was matching Federer serve-by- serve and shot-by-shot. True, Federer was not at his best and was missing some pretty easy shots which he would have normally made with ease. But give Bagdhatis the credit he deserves, he dug in deep right till the end and finally Federer wilted in the tie break. It would have been a different ball game had it been a grand slam event where Federer would still have had his chances in the fourth set, but in a three setter Federer is always vulnerable for upsets and he has proven it once again.

Alas, the grand finale every Tennis fan is hoping for - a final with Federer Vs Nadal is not happening at all because one of the two does not last before the final and that is truly sad.

never mind. learn from the losses roger and move on. i tried to stay awake and watch the livescore, and chat with other friends, but eyelids were dropping.

congrats to all baggy fans.
commis to fed fans, it was a great match though (from my peers were reporting) and will watch later.

C'mon federer!

Oh well, you can't win them all, Fed. Hope you prepare well for Miami and do well there!

Congratulations to Marcos... Great effort from him!

I'll be cheering for Rafa to win the tournament now.

champion,it was a great effort. you are right. another report from Jane:
Fed?s errors crept up, that?s true. But I didn?t feel like he collapsed like a house of cards. :) I mean he kept fighting right till the end. It was a tight 3rd set, but it seemed to me that Baggy felt it was his night and he wasn?t going to let go, and Fed wasn?t making it easy for him. It?s not like some matches, where I HAVE seen Fed collapse and lose 6-2 3rd or 5th set. Or like against Tsonga when he lost after being up 5-1. In defense of Roger, this was a third set tiebreak loss!! With only 3 points being the difference. Not a bad loss imo.

yes, federer can go and prepare well for Miami, I dont think he had a lot of points to defend in this tournament? put me right anyone, if I am incorrect. thanks.

A reporter on another forum is in the player?s interview room and reports this from Roger:

Q. How tough is it, Roger, after coming off the back of the Australian Open and to be sick and regain that kind of edge straightaway? How demanding is that?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, I mean, I could be sitting here an hour earlier and saying how comfortably I won the match in straight sets not playing great, but moving forward. Always a very fine line. That?s not why I don?t like to now beat myself up too much after a loss like this.

It feels like something the Tsonga match last year in Cincinnati, you know, what happened after that. I played great. Or was it in Toronto and I won Cincinnati.

So it?s just like one of those matches that just happens, you know. You play good most of the time, and then you just don?t play so well when you really have to. The match almost looked like I wasn?t playing all that great, and then I could have still won the match.

That was one of those matches that happens, and it?s a pity because I wasn?t terrible, you know, so?

Q. At any stage, it?s keeping a real sense of perspective, isn?t it, and a level head and not getting too downhearted with one defeat when you?ve got a potentially well, you have one great tournament and potentially some more to come.

ROGER FEDERER: Yeah. Yeah, I mean yeah, it?s fine, you know. I tried. I came here, gave it a shot. It?s a pity. I wish I could prepare for my next match. I don?t know who I would have played tomorrow, but I would have had a great time playing another match here.

I think as the tournament would have gone forward I would have found my groove more and more, and who knows what would have happened? But I don?t need to worry about that anymore. It?s about resting, you know, because I do feel the first match in my body. It?s something that always is tough, you know, coming from a long layover and all of a sudden playing matches.

But, yeah, I mean, the season is long, like you say. There?s no need to panic here.

These are only two questions, so i'll post later what he says about baggy (i know they are great friends).

maxi - he's defending a semi-final birth in Miami.

Not sure about this, but isn't this the first time Fed has lost a match while holding match points since the Rome 2006 against Rafa? He wasn't playing well on the big points in this match.

Anyway, Fed's got some good match practice here, so I hope he bounces back in Miami and does well there!

Federer had a lot of U/Es in this match. But Baghdatis played well enough and held his nerve when it counted. Great win for him.

iSomething similar happened champion against Tsonga, when fed was 5:1 up. This reminded me of this - here is part of baggy's presser.From Baghdatis? presser conference:

Q. Roger said he wasn?t sure whether he was too aggressive or too passive. How would you?

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: Too aggressive.

Q. No, with regard to your game, do you think you were better with aggression or being passive? Do you think you were better today because you were patient and relaxed or aggressive?

MARCOS BAGHDATIS: Both. I mean, you cannot be aggressive the whole match. You have to choose the points that you have to be aggressive. You have to be smart. You have to change the game.

I think that?s what I did well today. Roger was, I can say, a bit too aggressive. He was missing a lot of balls, and I was more calm than him today.

zooni, yes. Fed's Fh was not firing as well, so we shall just have to wait and see.

Champion, fed's no. 1 position (just read), appears to be "cushioned" until FO, then he has a lot of points to defend.