March 13, 2007	Tuesday	Safar 23, 1428

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INDIAN WELLS (California), March 12: Three-time defending champion Roger Federer was poised to make history at the Pacific Life Open Master Series, but somebody forgot to tell Guillermo Canas.

Argentina's Canas ended Federer's bid to break the all-time consecutive match winning streak, upsetting the Swiss superstar 7-5, 6-2 in the second round of the $5.3 million hardcourt tournament on Sunday.

Federer, 25, had won 41 straight ATP Tour matches, and six more would have set an ATP record of 47 consecutive wins, breaking another Argentine Guillermo Vilas' record of 46, set 30 years ago.

Federer, who had a first-round bye, called for the trainer twice in Sunday's match – once at the end of first set and at 2-3 in the second set for a slight foot and tape problem.

The 29-year-old Canas is the first lucky loser to beat a world number one since Sandon Stolle stopped Thomas Muster in the first round of an ATP Dubai tournament 11 years ago.

Canas just returned to competition in September after a 15-month drug suspension that stripped him of his dignity and left him in financial ruin.

The biggest question in tennis over the past 12 months has been how to beat Federer while he is on his blazing win streak.

Federer wilted under the hot desert sun, never getting untracked in the one hour, 45 minute match in front of a crowd of about 12,000 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

Federer had his serve broken four times in the match, including the third game of the second set to go down 2-1. He was also broken in the 11th game of the first as Canas closed out the set by winning three straight games.

Canas’ comeback continues into the third round at Indian Wells where he will face former 1998 French Open champ Carlos Moya of Spain.

He captured his seventh career ATP title last month in Brazil and is off to an impressive 11-2 start in 2007.

Canas had been banned after he was found to have taken the prohibited diuretic hydrochlorothiazide at Acapulco, Mexico in February 2005, where he was beaten by Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals.

His suspension was cut to 15 months after he argued that the substance was contained in medication given to him by a tournament doctor to treat a cold.

The ban started in June 2005 and ended in September 2006.

He had to go through several lawyers and hundreds of thousands of dollars on his appeal.

Also through to the next round was British No 1 Andy Murray, 2002 Wimbledon runner-up David Nalbandian and fifth seed Fernando Gonzalez.

Former world number ones Lleyton Hewitt, of Australia, and Russia's Marat Safin were eliminated in the second round.

In the women's tournament reigning US Open champ Maria Sharapova, of Russia, advanced to the fourth round with a 7-5, 6-2 win over France's Nathalie Dechy.

Former Indian Wells champ Daniela Hantuchova, Chinese No 1 Li Na and seventh seeded Jelena Jankovic also moved on.

Sunday’s results (prefix number denotes seeding):

Men’s singles:

Second round: Thomas Johansson (Sweden) beat 31-Nicolas Almagro (Spain) 7-6 (7-4), 7-5; 12-Novak Djokovic (Serbia) beat Robby Ginepri (US) 6-4, 6-4; 4-Nikolay Davydenko (Russia) beat Sam Querrey (US) 2-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-2; Jan Hernych (Czech Republic) beat 28-Agustin Calleri (Argentina) 6-3, 6-3; 9-Tommy Haas (Germany) beat Michael Llodra (France) 6-4, 6-1; Janko Tipsarevic (Serbia & Montenegro) beat 19-Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 6-2; Julien Benneteau (France) beat 27-Juergen Melzer (Austria) 6-4, 6-4; Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (Spain) beat 17-Marcos Baghdatis (Cyprus) 7-5, 7-5; Guillermo Canas (Argentina) beat 1-Roger Federer (Switzerland) 7-5, 6-2; Gilles Simon (France) beat 7-Tommy Robredo (Spain) 6-7 (0-7), 6-3, 6-0; Nicolas Mahut (France) beat 23-Marat Safin (Russia) 6-3, 4-6, 6-0; 5-Fernando Gonzalez (Chile) beat Frank Dancevic (Canada) 7-6 (8-6), 1-6, 7-5; 10-David Nalbandian (Argentina) beat Philipp Kohlschreiber (Germany) 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-1); Evgeny Korolev (Russia) beat 20-Dmitry Tursunov (Russia) 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 6-3; 13-Andy Murray (Britain) beat Wesley Moodie (South Africa) 6-3, 6-3; 14-David Ferrer (Spain) beat Luis Horna (Peru) 6-3, 6-1; Paul-Henri Mathieu (France) beat 21-Mardy Fish (US) 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 7-6 (7-5); 30-Juan Ignacio Chela (Argentina) beat Jonas Bjorkman (Sweden) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4; Carlos Moya (Spain) beat 25-Radek Stepanek (Czech Republic) 6-3, 6-4; 8-Ivan Ljubicic (Croatia) beat Alejandro Falla (Colombia) 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 6-4; Michael Russell (US) beat 11-Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) 7-6 (7-2), 6-4; 26-Robin Soederling (Sweden) beat Daniele Bracciali (Italy) 6-3, 6-4; Teimuraz Gabashvili (Russia) beat 24-Dominik Hrbaty (Slovakia) 7-5, 6-3.

Women’s singles:

Third round: 3-Martina Hingis (Switzerland) beat Yvonne Meusburger (Austria) 6-2, 6-4; 8-Anna Chakvetadze (Russia) beat 25-Maria Kirilenko (Russia) 6-4, 6-1; 7-Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) beat 28-Martina Mueller (Germany) 6-2, 6-4; 15-Vera Zvonareva (Russia) beat Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) 6-3, 6-3; 1-Maria Sharapova (Russia) beat Nathalie Dechy (France) 7-5, 6-2; 11-Shahar Peer (Israel) beat 19-Lucie Safarova (Czech Republic) 6-3, 1-6, 6-4; 12-Li Na (China) beat 23-Alona Bondarenko (Ukraine) 5-7, 6-3, 6-2; 14-Daniela Hantuchova (Slovakia) beat 18-Francesca Schiavone (Italy) 6-2, 7-6 (7-3).—Agencies