Federer not fazed by record

Players Under the Microscope / Editor / 06 March 2007 / Leave a Comment

Tennis superstar Roger Federer is not getting carried away by the prospect of eclipsing Guillermo Vilas's all-time winning run of 46 matches ahead of the Indian Wells Masters Series.

The Swiss sensation made it 41 wins on the spin with victory over Mikhail Youzhny in Sunday's Dubai Open final.
With the draw for the men's event in California due on Wednesday, Federer, the top seed and favourite, is refusing to get caught up in the headlines.

"I am not playing to beat that record - I am playing to win the tournament," said Federer.
"Unfortunately we can't look 10 years ahead and say 'This is what I want to achieve in tennis' - we are very short-sighted."
Fellow stars Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick and British duo Andy Murray and Tim Henman will all be in Indian Wells looking to thwart Federer.

Victory in the opening round will see the world's number one equal John McEnroe's record of 42 successive triumphs, and two matches later he could equal the Ivan Lendl run of 44.

Federer is certain to head the markets when they open up nearer the time, while last year's beaten finalist, James Blake, is also tipped to feature.

Spain's Nadal, beaten 7-5 6-3 by Blake in last year's semi-finals, is also likely to attract plenty of support when the betting gets up and running.