INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — The match point does not always sum up the match, but it did on Wednesday.
Rafael Nadal, desperately trying to hold off Roger Federer, went for an old standby: a left-handed serve high to the backhand.
But the old ways no longer seem to work against this refreshed version of Federer. Where once Federer might have chipped the return and embarked on a rally, he stuck with his new game plan instead: ripping a backhand return full force.
It landed in the corner. Nadal stared at it for a moment or two, pursed his lips, raised both eyebrows (not just one) and trotted to the net, thoroughly resigned to his fate on this enchanted desert evening for Federer.