By Gavin Versi

Roger Federer hasn’t been able to break any records over the last few weeks after suffering two straight defeats to Guillermo Canas. But before that, he was setting new statistical benchmarks nearly every week, including one for most consecutive weeks at No. 1.

The media takes great interest in Federer and the myriad of records he has broken but what   does the top-ranked Swiss and his team think about it? “We kind of smile about it,” he said. “We’re kind of in awe of what’s going on. It’s something that is definitely a subject once in a while but it’s more the media that hypes it up, they talk about it all the time. When you reach records or are about to, the articles are usually nice so we read those and smile about it.”

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The tournament organisers can give the players as many privileges as they want – an ultra-exclusive player party at SET nightclub, tickets to Miami Heat matches, and an on-site salon are just three of the luxuries offered – but if they can’t get the simple things right, the competitors are not happy. What is their most fundamental need? Courts to play on and balls to hit, of course. Unfortunately, this tournament falls short on both counts, with a lack of practice facilities and a stingy ball quota. “This practice desk sucks,” one U.S. player was overheard saying.

In order to get around the problem, some of the more resourceful coaches have been booking courts using the names of players who are not even competing at the event. Competitors are often confined to four per court, so injured players’ names are being used in order to fulfill the quotas, and thus hand the two legitimate players with a full court. Vera Zvonareva’s coach is rumored to be especially militant when it comes to getting full court access.

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Staff in the media center should be commended for the excellent job they do to assist reporters here, but who on earth chooses the wording for some of the press releases? An event last Friday was entitled: “Nick Bollettieri Meet & Greet and Scholarship Giveaway”. Closer inspection of this publicity activity revealed that winners of the ‘scholarship’ would in fact receive just “one boarding week of tennis, golf, soccer, baseball, basketball or fishing instruction.” Maybe Bollettieri is such a good coach that one week is sufficient?

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Bethanie Mattek, the American with the zany dress sense, went into this event without an apparel sponsor. One of the more enterprising players on the Tour, she  duly sauntered into one of her favourite clothes stores, Bebe, on South Beach, tried on a few outfits and within 24 hours had arranged an endorsement deal giving her free clothing from the store. “I saw the dress in the window and thought it would be cool to wear it,” said the Floridian.

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As one player afflicted by double fault-itis is forced to exit the tour for a while – world No.10 Elena Dementieva withdrew from this event because of a rib injury – another is set to make his return. Former world No.3 Guillermo Coria, who hit an average of 11.6 double faults per match during the 2006 clay court season, will make his comeback in the Marrakech challenger. He was originally scheduled for U.S. Clay Court Championships in Houston next month, but an abdominal problem forced a delay.