Roger “FedEx” Federer, world number two and possibly the greatest tennis player of all time, defeated Russia's Igor Andreev in straight sets at the BNP Paribas Open 2011, during their second round encounter which lasted an hour
and 34 minutes. The match, which was contested at the Indian Wells Tennis Gardens in finished with a score line of 7-5, 7-6.
The Indian Wells Masters 1000, as the BNP Paribas Open is colloquially known, stars a field of 96 ATP players. The top 32 seeds here are given byes into the second round, while the remaining fight it out in the first round to progress.
As 2nd seed, Federer is at the very bottom of the draw and faces a possible semi-final clash with Novak Djokovic.
The 29-year-old Swiss’ achievements so far have been remarkable. He has won 16 Grand Slams, more than any other male, ever. He has also won 17 ATP World Tour Masters 100 events, including three at this very venue. His ranking of
world number two comes after two hundred and eighty weeks as number one in the world, including the longest unbroken period anyone has ever had at the top.
Igor Andreev's career has not been quite as illustrious, but then, the Swiss maestro has very few equals. Andreev turned pro in 2002, and at the age of 27, he is currently ranked 96th in the world. His previous 3 meetings with
Federer have all ended with him losing, and the most recent one of these losses came at the 2010 Australian Open.
Federer is the favorite going into any match on the court, unless it’s on clay and against Rafael Nadal. Since Nadal is at the top of the draw, Federer shall be the favorite in every match until he gets to the final. The superstar
lived up to his billing in the first set, as he started out serving beautifully. The 29-year-old won 83 per cent of his total service points completely dominating the exchanges on his serve. Facing no break points, he took Andreev to task and created 3 chances
to break for himself, needing only one to close the set 7-5.
The second set saw the Swiss master's serve suffer. He landed in only 40 per cent of his first serves. Consequently, breaks came more plentifully. Up until the 10th game, both players had exchanged a break each. To the chagrin
of both though, no other breaks came in the match. The set went into tie break, and there Federer showed his magic. Wrapping up the set easily, he moved closer to taking his record 4th Indian Wells title.
Trying to stop FedEx's march in the next round will be Juan Ignacio Chela. The Argentine obviously has an outside chance to win, but with the form Federer is in, that looks a little impossible.
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