Fabrice Santoro of France reminded me yesterday more of Peter Sellers in The Pink Panther than as a quarter-finalist in Tennis Masters Canada. He even wore a pink shirt, for heaven's sake.
I was inclined to accuse him of being almost grotesque by hitting two-handed backhands and two-handed forehands, jerking his head and even jumping the low fence behind the baseline.
But that was in the warmup at the brand new Rexall Centre. There was no clowning once his match against Roger Federer of Switzerland, the world's No. 1 player, began. In fact, Santoro forced Federer to unload all his shooting arsenal before the latter won 7-5, 6-4 to advance to the semi-finals.
The players traded service games in the first set until 2-2, then Federer, using overwhelming serve and volleys, cross-court shots and down-the-line backhands, jumped to a 5-2 lead.
Those who thought the match was all but over didn't know the 32-year-old, Tahiti-born Frenchman. He changed the tempo of the match, threw a combination of top-spin forehands and backhands at Federer and pulled even at 5-5 before the Swiss perfectionist converted his fourth set point.
The second set offered pretty much the same picture, both players alternating brilliant passing and cross-court shots with volleys and drop shots, before Federer clinched the match 6-4.
The likable member of the French Davis Cup team gave full credit to his conqueror.
"It was a tight match," Santoro said. "At 5-5 and 30-all in the first set I thought I had a chance. But when Roger needs an ace, he gets it. When he needs a volley, he makes it. He can always come up with a big shot when he needs it."
Federer, who won his 21st consecutive match and is only three victories behind Pete Sampras' modern-era record of 24, wasn't playing his best tennis. For a perfectionist who normally can fine-tune his game like a Swiss watchmaker, Federer made too many unforced errors at the most inopportune times.
In his defence, one has to recognize that Federer played two matches the day before and yesterday's humidity gave him reasons to feel tired.
"I felt mentally fatigued," the world's No. 1 said after the match. "It was evident when I couldn't convert the break points. But Fabrice is a difficult player to face. He's a righty but plays like a lefty. He has good passing shots.
"When facing him, you have to design a different game plan. Still, I enjoy playing him. As for the (21-game) streak, they talk about it. But I'm not here to keep the streak going, I'm here to win the tournament."
In spite of his fatigue, Federer insisted that if the match had gone to three sets, it wouldn't have bothered him.
"It shouldn't have happened, anyway, even though I let him come back into the game when I could have closed out the match."
The fact is there is a reason he's No. 1 in the world -- a player with smooth strokes and clever strategy, whenever the occasion calls for it. Everything being equal, he should meet Andy Roddick in tomorrow's final -- an organizer's dream final.
GROSSLY ABBREVIATED
One of the happiest people at the Rexall Centre was tournament director Stacey Allaster: "Our walk-on admission this year is twice as large as for the preceding two years at the old facility," Allaster said ... The CBC's Don Wittman, who'll cover the tournament today and tomorrow before leaving for Athens, will celebrate his 17th Olympic appearance in the Greek capital.
