Federer meets his match

For Roger Federer, glimpses of vulnerability often vanished in mere seconds during a winning streak lasting nearly seven months and 41 matches and spanning seven countries.

So when Federer started floundering against Guillermo Canas late Sunday afternoon, the expectation was that he would eventually slam shut Canas’ window of opportunity.

That sound never came.

And so, Federer’s close pursuit of a treasured record held by Guillermo Vilas ended at the hands of another Argentine named Guillermo. Canas defeated Federer, 7-5, 6-2, in the second round of the Pacific Life Open at Indian Wells Tennis Garden. It halted what had been a determined run at the record and resurrected the career of Canas, who five months ago returned from a 15-month suspension after testing positive for a banned substance.

“It’s just a guy put me away when he had to,” said Federer, who called it a “normal” loss. “He played a perfect match in the end.”

Said Canas, who lost last week in qualifying but got in as a lucky loser when another player withdrew: “I dream about this. I didn’t expect.”

Vilas won 46 consecutive matches in 1977, and Federer’s winning streak of 41 is the fourth-longest in the Open era. He is tied with Bjorn Borg, trailing only John McEnroe (42), Ivan Lendl (44) and Vilas. The last time he had lost was to Andy Murray in August at Cincinnati.

His quest for the record, as well as a fourth straight title at Indian Wells, ended at 6:09 p.m. when a backhand under pressure floated long, finishing a sluggish-looking effort. Federer lacked his usual crisp, disciplined approach, committing 43 unforced errors to Canas’ nine.

For all his travails, Federer still had two set points in the 10th game with Canas serving, and simply went for too much on the first one, netting a forehand after a terrific exchange. There was a fine line between getting into protracted baseline exchanges against a tireless retriever and going for it too soon, and Federer could not find the ideal blend in the 1-hour 45-minute match.

Also, an issue of rhythm, or a lack thereof, came into play when Federer twice called for a trainer to adjust the tape on his feet to deal with blisters. The first was after the opening set.

“I hate taking timeouts,” Federer said. “Here, it takes forever for the guy to come down. ... And you’re down a set. It’s already not easy. You kind of try to get back up. It just wasn’t meant to be. ... So it was just a lot of interruptions. When you’re up, it’s no problem, but when you’re down, it really messes with your rhythm.”

One of the rare times Canas had no answer was when he was asked how to beat Federer.

“I don’t know,” he said, smiling. “Just I beat him. I don’t know how I do it.”

Canas’ win was a continuation of a bizarre, dry and hot day on which players were suffering from a variety of ailments, even nosebleeds. A handful of seeded men exited: Wild-card entrant Michael Russell defeated No. 11 Tomas Berdych, 7-6 (2), 6-4; Gilles Simon beat No. 7 Tommy Robredo, 6-7 (0), 6-3, 6-0, and Janko Tipsarevic defeated No. 19 Lleyton Hewitt, 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-2. Nikolay Davydenko, seeded No. 4, survived a tough test against Sam Querrey of Thousand Oaks to win, 2-6, 7-6 (6), 6-2.

Hewitt, a former champion here, has been working with his former coach Darren Cahill. Cahill had been with Andre Agassi the last few years until Agassi’s retirement. Any plans for a full-time arrangement?

“I have no idea,” Hewitt said. “I still have to work things out and see where I want to go and see who the best person is to take me there.”

Results on the women’s side remained predictable with no significant upsets in the third round.

The only unpredictable aspect was the schedule on the Stadium Court because of long matches. Martina Hingis had been set to start at 7 p.m. but did not get on court until about 9:15.

Even then, the tournament buzz still involved Federer, who played, and won, a doubles match after the singles loss. That his run ended in his opening match was stunning. The last time Federer lost his first match in a tournament was at Cincinnati in 2004, to Dominik Hrbaty.

Though Canas had beaten Federer previously, it was in 2002. Canas has been ranked as high as No. 8 in the world and twice reached the quarterfinals of the French Open. Then came a protracted legal struggle after he tested positive for a banned diuretic at an event in Mexico in 2005.

He was not even allowed on site at the U.S. Open in 2005 to watch his girlfriend compete.

“It was tough because I was in the door,” he said.

Federer had some candid remarks about the Canas case and his shortened suspension.

“Everybody who gets caught always says, ‘I didn’t do anything,’ so. ... It’s just not right,” Federer said. “It depends on how long the suspension is. In the end, they always cut them short.”

lisa.dillman@latimes.com

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Short list

Longest match winning streaks in the Open era (since 1968):

*--* PLAYER WINS YEARS Guillermo Vilas 46 1977 Ivan Lendl 44 1981-82 John McEnroe 42 1983-84 Bjorn Borg 41 1979-80 Roger Federer 41 2006-07

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Los Angeles Times