At 37, a fit body keeps Federer upbeat

Indian Wells (USA), March 19 

Roger Federer departed Indian Wells empty-handed for a second straight year, but the Swiss great sees no reason he can’t get back on track at the Miami Masters. “Sure, it’s frustrating and disappointing and sad to some extent,” Federer said after falling 3-6 6-3 7-5 to Austrian Dominic Thiem in the final.

Thiem, 25, denied Federer a record sixth Indian Wells title and returned to his career-high of fourth in the world — bumping Federer down to fifth going to the second leg of the “Sunshine Double” of Indian Wells and Miami.

But Federer, the 20-time Grand Slam winner who claimed a remarkable 100th career title in Dubai last month, can afford to take the defeat in stride — especially when he’s playing well and feels his 37-year-old body is fully fit. “It’s just not as dramatic,” Federer said of falling to a player who was “just a bit better when it mattered”.

“Whereas, when you’re hurt and things are difficult, maybe those hurt more. I’m going to Miami. The body is perfectly fine. That also always keeps me upbeat, and I feel it’s a privilege when I feel this way leaving a tournament,” he added.

“I have been playing every single day for the last three weeks. I can be very happy and proud of that fact.”

As at Indian Wells, Federer could meet fellow Swiss Stan Wawrinka in the third round in Miami. Federer is a three-time winner at Miami, but he lost his second-round opener last year after falling to Juan Martin del Potro in the final at Indian Wells. With that in mind, Federer shied away from predicting he would bounce back in a big way from his loss to Thiem, with the Miami event’s move to a new venue adding to his sense of uncertainty. 

Canada’s next great hope

TORONTO: Canadian teenager Bianca Andreescu’s Indian Wells triumph was not shown on television in her home country but that did not dampen the excitement across a nation where the future of women’s tennis is suddenly looking as bright as ever. Andreescu enjoyed an unprecedented run in the California desert where the 18-year-old became the first wildcard to win the prestigious event that is widely regarded as the biggest tennis tournament outside of the four Grand Slams.

“A STAR IS BORN” screamed the front-page headline of The Toronto Star on Monday above a picture of a grinning Andreescu with her eyes closed and arms around the winner’s trophy.

The Candian first made waves in January when she beat former world No. 1s Caroline Wozniacki and Venus Williams on consecutive nights in a tune-up event for the Australian Open. But Andreescu took her game to another level in California where her Cinderella run included wins over five seeded players, including former world No. 1 and three-time Grand Slam winner Angelique Kerber in the final.

The match, however, was not shown on TV in her homeland and many Canadians took to social media to blast the country’s all-sports networks for not securing broadcast rights to the event.

After becoming the first Canadian to win a WTA Premier Mandatory tournament, Andreescu reflected on the journey she took to reach the biggest moment of her career. “A year ago, during this period, I had been struggling a lot with my tennis and with my body, too. So it’s crazy what a year can do,” Andreescu said.

“I was playing 25Ks in Japan,” she said, referring to the WTA’s second-tier tournaments. “…and now I’m the... champion of Indian Wells. It’s crazy.” 

The victory vaulted Andreescu to a dizzyingly high ranking of 24th in the world, up 128 places since last December. It is even more remarkable considering she entered 2019 with a now-laughable goal of cracking the top-100 by year’s end.

Andreescu’s triumph even caught the attention of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who posted a congratulatory note on his Twitter account which she responded to by saying it is an honour to play for Canada.

The sudden flood of attention being directed at Andreescu is reminiscent of that given to other Canadians when they burst onto the tennis scene in recent years, including former women’s world No. 5 Eugenie Bouchard and men’s No. 3 Milos Raonic.

Andreescu, brimming with confidence, will now face questions at every turn about whether she has what it takes to become the first Canadian to win a Grand Slam singles title. — Agencies