win streak halted aT 23

Federer is not unconquerable
Is there really a Federer-Roddick rivalry afoot?
Roger: 'It's almost up to me to decide, who's my rival, isn't it?'

By Sandra Harwitt
Special to tennisreporters.net

Susan Mullane/Camerawork USA

Federer loses to Luis Horna at the '03 Roland Garros.

FROM THE WESTERN & SOUTHERN FINANCIAL GROUP MASTERS IN CINCINNATI – On a very hot and humid Tuesday afternoon in a Ohio suburb, a place where the corn grows high and land-locked Midwesterners converge for summer vacations to a variety of amusement parks, a admittedly tired Roger Federer proved the theory wrong that he can't be beat.

It took just less than two hours for Federer to experience a rare sensation, that of being the conquered, when good friend Dominik Hrbaty sent him packing in the first round 1-6, 7-6 (7), 6-4.

Gone with the wind – there went Federer's 23-match winning streak, just one match shy of equaling Pete Sampras' 24 consecutive match streak in 1999. But there's no need to lament for the seemingly unflappable Federer because he's taking the loss in his stride.

"I'm not too disappointed," Federer said. "People shouldn't feel sorry for me, because I've had a great run. The streak is at its end now. So I can leave, I've got a few more days off. That's the positive side of it."

another notable record of 23
Federer, however, didn't hide a bit of disappointment that another record he has been keeping, of not losing in the first round of a tournament since '03 Roland Garros, where he fell to Luis Horna, has come to its conclusion. That's an impressive 23 tournaments played without a first-round failure until Tuesday.

"I always know how difficult the early rounds are," Federer said. "I haven't lost since I think the French Open, first round, last year. It's over a year, and that was also something I was very proud of, to have never lost in the first round."

There were those who were expecting the formidable Swiss to be not only celebrating his 23rd birthday this coming Sunday, but to also be packing another tournament trophy in his suitcase to take home as well. But, at least for now, Federer's title glut will have to be on pause.

But don't feel sorry for Roger: He's still way ahead of the competition this year, having eight titles to his credit for the season. And there is the fact that he's won his last four tournaments played: Halle, Wimbledon, Gstaad and Toronto.

And then there is also the fact that he has now put himself in a category with the great Bjorn Borg, becoming the first player since the Swede to win three consecutive titles on three different surfaces: Wimbledon on grass, Gstaad on clay and Toronto on hard courts.

WINNING TAKES ITS TOLL
It would be hard to ignore that Federer's heavy schedule might have battered him a bit. After dominating the first set-and-a-half, he seemed to weary in the important second-set tiebreak. In all, Hrbaty had three set points in that tiebreak to even the match at one set apiece, taking advantage of his opportunity on the final point when Federer swatted a backhand long.

In the third set, a service break in the ninth game put Hrbaty in control. One game later and the Slovak had his fourth career world No. 1 scalp in six matches played against top-ranked colleagues; besides for Federer, he also had his way with Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the second round at Roland Garros in 1999, Andre Agassi in the third round at '00 Rome, and Marat Safin in a '01 Davis Cup match. The only No. 1 player he failed to find a path to victory against was Pete Sampras, who ruled the day in the first round at the Australian Open in 1997 and Wimbledon in 1998.

"You don't beat the No. 1 in the world every day, so that's great," Hrbaty said. "These guys, for them it's big pressure. I mean, they are No. 1s because they can handle the pressure. And everybody wants to beat them. Everybody wants to give his best against the No. 1 in the world."

Federer's loss came in stark contrast to the comments he was making on Monday in a casual chat with the media. At that point, although he said he was "exhausted," he defended his heavy schedule of late. He will have played Halle, Wimbledon, Gstaad, Toronto, Cincinnati, the Olympics and the US Open in one fell swoop.

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"Well, you know, I have a week in between Cincinnati and the Olympics and a week between the Olympics and the US Open," Federer said. "So I guess I have to catch up with relaxation in that time. Even though I will go through a couple of jetlags, I'm used to that and I get over it. But it is important that I have days where I'm not playing at all land just really relax. I went for eight days vacation after Gstaad. So I had that. This should carry me through till after the US Open."

Is there really a Federer-Roddick rivalry afoot?
One question that was raised with Federer, a three-time Grand Slam titlist to date, during the conversation on Monday with the media is whether he would say there's a Roddick-Federer rivalry afoot? The question was obviously based on the fact the two had played twice recently, in the Wimbledon final as well as the Toronto final last week.

Federer answered quite pleasantly, saying, "Yeah, in a way, a little bit. You know, especially now that we've played each other twice in finals. Now when we face each other, it's always in the finals because he's No. 2 and I'm No. 1. So it's good for tennis, I think, that the best players play each other more often than in the past. And for people who didn't follow tennis that much, it was very tough to understand how come the top guys are not winning all the time. Now that me and Andy, we've been dominating a little bit, I think it's good for tennis. Especially now leading up to the US Open, it's going to have a huge effect on tennis, I think."

This tennisreporters.net report, however, was a bit skeptical about calling Federer and Roddick a bona fide rivalry being that the Swiss seems to own the reigning US Open champion, winning seven of eight of their meetings. The only time Roddick has scored a victory over Federer was in a three-set semifinal encounter at the Montreal tournament last summer.

Federer smiled at the query as to whether it is fair to categorize their meetings as a rivalry at this juncture, saying, "I don't know. Ask Andy. For me, I'm in the driver's seat, you know. I've won the big tournaments lately. For me, whoever comes, I'll try to beat him. But it's almost up to me to decide, who's my rival, isn't it?"

Always wanting to see the friendlier side of things, Federer continued, "Andy has been playing great tennis. We need Americans who are good. He's definitely got the character as well. I'm looking forward to playing him many more times, but we shouldn't forget other players. There's many other great players as well."

Although Federer didn't say where he would go to rest between now and the Olympics, he has mentioned that heading to the beach is his favorite vacation. Maybe a nice Greek island – Mykonos or Santorini – just a hop, skip and a jump from Athens, might be on the agenda.