On Saturday March 10, the Pacific Life Open at Indian Wells held the usual promise: some lovely tennis, Andy Murray doing really, really well before getting a muscle pull, Andy Roddick trying and sweating and smiling before losing – just – to Nadal, Federer lifting the trophy and losing more liquid in tears than he ever did in sweat during the whole tournament. That was Saturday March 10. On Monday March 12, the Pacific Life Open at Indian Wells had become an unmissable, one of those rare events where anything might happen. What happened on Sunday March 11 was one of those things that a few years back might have vexed Mulder and Scully. On Sunday March 11, this happened: G Canas (Arg) def R Federer (Sui) 7-5, 6-2.
Later that night G Canas (Arg) had a spiritual conversion and is now living in a silent monastery in the foothills of Annapurna. For the rest of us, it was game on. Well, up to a point. Andy Murray did really, really well before getting a muscle pull, Andy Roddick tried and sweated and smiled before losing – just – to Nadal. And Nadal? Nadal found himself in the curious position of being in a final and playing a human being. Duly, he won a tournament for the first time in nine months.
His opponent was Murray’s victor, Novak Djokovic, the 19-year-old Serb and another of the next raft of challengers. The first teenager to reach the final since Agassi in 1990, he was attempting to become the first teen to win it since Boris Becker in 1987. Curiously, Nadal is less than a year older but looks – feels – like he’s a different generation. It didn’t take long.
"When my mother was giving me the milk, I was watching him win Wimbledon" said Novak as Boris presented him with his runners-up trophy. That puts things in a certain context, then.
The real winners were the sponsors of the ad breaks, “Stan James – The Sports Bookmakers” who, courtesy of G Canas (Arg) must have been baking cakes and booking holidays. It was a curious thing, having a bookie sponsor the breaks. The money is still gobsmacking: during the Roddick Ljubicic game, we were told that “this match brings Ivan Ljubicic’s prize money to $6million”. Ivan Ljubicic? No disrespect and he’s a good player and all, but $6million? Back in the day, you’d get bionic limbs for that sort of figure. Inflation, I guess.
Poppy
