He is the player who lost in qualifying but then came back to end Roger Federer’s 41-match winning streak at Indian Wells

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Roger Federer was bidding for history at the 2007 edition of Indian Wells before it came to an abrupt end.

Federer is one of only two players in history to win three consecutive Indian Wells titles, having done so between 2004 and 2006.

The only other player to match this feat is Novak Djokovic, with Carlos Alcaraz bidding for the Indian Wells record.

Heading into the 2007 Indian Wells tournament, Federer won the US Open and the Australian Open as part of a historic 41-match winning streak.

However, that all came to an end at the hands of a surprise victor, who had been handed a lifeline prior to playing Federer.

Lucky loser Guillermo Canas ends Roger Federer’s 41-match winning streak at Indian Wells

Federer was very dominant between 2004 and 2006, losing only 15 matches in those three years combined.

This includes winning three consecutive Indian Wells titles, most recently beating James Blake in the 2006 final.

After winning 41 consecutive matches overall, Federer headed into Indian Wells in 2007 as the top seed and was the favourite to continue that going.

Receiving an automatic bye to the second round, Federer awaited lucky loser Guillermo Canas.

Canas had lost in the final round of qualifying to German player Alexander Waske, but received a lifeline as a lucky loser following a withdrawal.

Despite being ranked at world number 60, Canas was a former top 10 player and had beaten Federer before.

However, the Argentinian had dropped down the rankings after facing a two year doping ban, before returning at the start of 2007.

Canas lived up to his previous heights against Federer and beat the Swiss, 7-5 6-2, to end his 18-match winning streak at Indian Wells and 41-match overall run.

With Federer out of the picture, Rafael Nadal won Indian Wells for the first time that year, while Canas lost his next match to Carlos Moya.

What did Roger Federer say after his defeat to Guillermo Canas?

Having won 41 matches in a row before losing to Canas, many were talking about Federer overtaking Bjorn Borg’s ATP record of 49 consecutive wins.

When asked about whether this pressure contributed to his defeat, Federer dismissed this sentiment and paid full credit to his opponent.

“No, I’d rather face it, to be honest, of course, you know. You think it’s pressure. It’s no pressure at all because I take it match by match,” Federer said in his post-match press conference.

“And you guys think it takes a win to break the record. I’m concerned about winning my first round match against a lucky loser. There you go. It just shows you how tough it is.

“And today was just a grind for me from the start. I was struggling, but it was tough. First round match is always difficult, but I’ve had an incredible run, not losing in the first round for, I think, over two years. So I’m really happy about that. Sooner or later it had to happen, so it’s okay. It’s no problem.”

Canas would beat Federer again in his subsequent tournament at the Miami Open, making it all the way to the final before being beaten by Djokovic.

After losing to Canas in 2007, Federer did not win reach another Indian Wells final until five years later when he beat John Isner in the final.

Federer won his final Indian Wells title in 2017, beating compatriot Stan Wawrinka to equal Djokovic with a record five titles at the Masters 1000 tournament.