Federer foiled...

SHOCKER: Roger Federer, the invincible number one tennis player for four solid years, lost to the most improbable of opponents at the Pacific Life Open on Saturday: a guy named Mardy Fish who is ranked number 98 in the world. Mardy has been ranked as high as 17th in the past but has more often than not failed to live up to early promise. His most prestigious achievement was winning the silver medal at the 2004 Olympic Games.

But Mardy has come out of nowhere this week upsetting higher-ranked Lleyton Hewitt and David Nalbanian before taking down Federer 6-3, 6-2.
The Federer loss is the Swiss star's third this season and leaves him without a title in 2008. It's also the most puzzling. A semifinal loss to Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open is acceptable and even a loss to 11th-ranked Andy Murray a few weeks back. Murray had beaten Federer in 2006.

Speaking of Novak (pictured, right), he easily brushed aside second-ranked Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-2 in the other semifinal. The Serbian has gotta be heavily favored to beat Fish in the final tomorrow. He's getting ready to rule the tennis world as Federer begins to lose his grip.