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| | Roger Federer's bid for a fourth straight Indian Wells Masters Series title sees the world No. 1 from Switzerland chasing tennis history. The three-time defending champion arrives in the California desert riding a 41-match winning streak, and if he captures the title he will break Guillermo Vilas's 30-year-old ATP consecutive match winning streak of 46. After a first-round bye, Federer will meet the winner of the opening-round match between Czech Jan Hajek and a qualifier. But potentially standing in Federer's way are two-time champion Lleyton Hewitt and last year's finalist James Blake who are in the same quarter of the draw as the Swiss superstar. "You can't look at this field and say someone got a good draw. When you look at the possible quarter-final and round of 16 matches, there is no place to hide," tournament director Steve Simon said. Indeed the men's field is impressive with the top 75 players in the world competing in the draw which begins on Friday. The other side of the men's draw features No. 2 seed Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick and Ivan Ljubicic. The top 32 seeds all receive first-round byes. Nowadays, Federer seems capable of adjusting to any on-court situation. While he resists attempts to compare him to the game's greats, he admits that he finds motivation in surpassing their achievements. "It's definitely very interesting. I'm not just playing against the other guys. I'm playing against the entire game and the past." |
