Translated material
King of the Masters
Federer wins major tournament in Indian Wells
The first racket of the world, Swiss Roger Federer, won another title, the ninth in his career, at the prestigious Masters series tournament. In the final match in Indian Wells, the undisputed leader of men's world tennis defeated American James Blake - 7:5, 6:3, 6:0.Federer's opponent missed a great opportunity to take the first set, after which his game completely went wrong and he stopped offering decent resistance. Having made two breaks in the opening of the match, the American led 4:1. With the score 5:4, Blake served for the set, but the Swiss rose to the occasion and won three points in a row. James soon restored equality in the game (40:40), but at the most inopportune moment he was let down by two double faults. This ended the intrigue of the match.
“I know myself well and never panic when I have to fight back,” Federer said. - I'm confident in myself. Apparently, this is also the secret of my success. At the beginning of the meeting we had a fierce battle. Having dealt with my opponent in the first set, then at some moments of the game I showed fantastic tennis, even if this is an immodest statement. I feel like I’m in great shape now.”
The Swiss has won seven of the last nine Masters in which he has competed, becoming the true king of the series. The performance statistics of the three-time Indian Wells champion over the past three seasons are impressive. Since January 2004, Federer has played 188 official matches and left the court as a winner in 177. This year, the first racket of the planet suffered only one defeat - in the final of the competition in Dubai he lost to the Spaniard Rafael Nadal.
For Blake, the very fact of reaching the Masters final was a great achievement. In the new ATP rankings, the dark-skinned tennis player took a place in the Top 10 for the first time, rising from 14th line to 9th. The American's track record includes five tournaments won, two of them this season, but he considers his performance in Indian Wells to be the pinnacle of his sports career. Another very important change has occurred in the world classification. Tournament host Andy Roddick, who lost to Igor Andreev in the 1/16 finals, lost third position to Argentinean David Nalbandian.
The next Masters starts in Miami on Wednesday. The tournament has the largest prize pool in this series. If $3,169,600 was up for grabs in Indian Wells, then $3.45 million was up for grabs in Florida, and the winner will receive $533,500. Federer will have to defend the title he won last season; the record holder for the number of victories in Miami is American Andre Agassi -- six championship titles. A women's tournament of the first category of the BTA will also be held in parallel.
The video replay system will be tested for the first time. Each player now has the right to request to review a particular game episode no more than twice per game in case of disagreement with the referee’s decision. The replay will be broadcast on the big screen so that all viewers can see the controversial moment. “This is a wonderful innovation,” Andre Agassi has already spoken about the introduction of new technologies in world tennis. - It will help both the participants in the matches and the fans.