Points won by each set: [ 29-18, 31-23, 41-36 ]
Points won directly behind the serve:
39 % Federer – 33 of 84
26 % Hewitt – 25 of 94
The years 2004-05 it was pretty strange period in men’s tennis at the top. Federer hadn’t any problems to regularly beat his theoretically toughest opponents: Roddick & Hewitt (the second part of 2005 showed that the clay-court specialist Nadal became an all-round superior player over them) # The Indian Wells final was one of those rather sad matches in which a player who had been the best in the world just a few years earlier, hadn’t any chance against the current leader. Federer [1] already led 4:1 with a double break in the 3rd set when lost his concentration for a while, but saved a break point at 4:3 with an ace and never looked back, converting his first match point with another ace. Hewitt’s only consolation was the best rally of 2005 which he won – they exchanged 45 strokes, Federer was lobbed twice, and in the end Hewitt [2] played a semi-dive volley winner into an open court.
Federer’s route to his 26th title:
2 Mardy Fish 6-3, 6-3
3 Gilles Muller 6-3, 6-2
4 Ivan Ljubicic 7-6(3), 7-6(4)
Q Nicolas Kiefer 6-4, 6-1
S Guillermo Canas 6-3, 6-1
W Lleyton Hewitt 6-2, 6-4, 6-4