He had constructed an almost impenetrable aura, a sense of inevitability. Since early June, Roger Federer had lost just one match, as he swept to four major titles — Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, the Shanghai Masters Cup and the Aussie Open in Melbourne, where he didn’t even drop a set. Then, after skipping Davis Cup play, he dutifully collected a hard-court title in his part-time home in Dubai.

So entering the American hard-court spring season, the conventional wisdom was simple -- rock solid. The Mighty Fed — relaxed and imposing — would again dominate. After all, he had won three straight times at Indian Wells and twice in a row in Miami. Let the coronation begin!

Wrong. Enter 29-year-old Guillermo Canas, a tireless worker who ran circles around Fed in a first-round, straight-set win at the Pacific Life Open. Yes, tennis was shaken by this (“beyond-the-Richter scale”) earthquake, but certainly the good ship Federer would right itself and again set sail upon its usual calm waters in Miami. But no, once again, in marched Mr. Canas (who, during his 15-month drug suspension, hadn’t heard how good Federer was), and he audaciously won again, this time by coaxing multiple errors out of Roger in a shocking third-set tiebreak in the fourth round.

It’s hard to remember a time when a dominant No. 1 suffered two straight losses at big tournaments to a good but not great player. Prop former world No. 8 Canas all you want, but Roger entered Indian Wells with a 104-5 match record since the beginning of ‘06, and four of those losses came to No. 2 Rafael Nadal, with three of them on clay.

Federer’s incredible play since midway through ‘03 has raised the bar so much that even a lost set requires a hastily arranged summit meeting of major minds to explain how and why. But Federer isn’t hanging his mouth as wide open as the rest of the tour and still gives himself a shot at his first French crown and, possibly, at the calendar-year Slam.

“It’s disappointing, but it happens. I’m going to be fine for clay, that’s for sure,” he said.

Maybe, but hold back on the canonization: King Roger has inexplicably slipped back to earth.

A former top 10 player with solid hard-court credentials, the Argentine was suspended for 15 months for doping and returned last fall, grinding through Challengers, all the while pleading his innocence, saying that a doctor prescribed him the wrong cold medication. Canas is well-liked around the locker room. Still, many are suspicious, especially since he wins most matches because he never seems to get pooped.

Nonetheless, no one on the planet expected Canas to take down Fed twice in a row by causing the Swiss to brain cramp, especially in Miami. But “Willie”  looked very much like a right-handed Nadal, without the heavy topspin, but with the devilish defense. Roger couldn’t stand that.

“He scrambles back so many balls and doesn’t miss much, and then he moves the ball around very well,” Federer said. “He really improved his backhand, his serve. They weren’t that good a couple years ago.”

Armed with a 48-7 record since he came back with no ranking, Canas has cracked the top-30 again and should be a contender at Roland Garros where Federer would rather not see his thunderous thighs again.

Federer’s fall from grace allowed others, in addition to Canas, to shine. Nadal regained his confidence after going title-less for nine months by winning Indian Wells, and the multitalented Serb teen Novak Djokovic reached the IW final and won Miami.

All the right elements are there for Djokovic: a good head, an athlete’s body, high variety, power and composure. It remains a sweet sight to see a young player lose his baby teeth and take an adult bite out of two high-level fields. The Serb has now established himself as the best of a very good teen lot. The likes of Andy Murray (who reached both the IW and Miami semis but was injured and lost twice to Djokovic) and Richard Gasquet can only take a good hard look at how Djokovic waded his way through talented fields. But before the Serbian is anointed as the next Fed, he has to score a win against the great Swiss, something he has yet to do.

Ranked 81st in the world and seemingly out of shape going into the Aussie Open, the once mighty Serena was dismissed by much of the public and skewered by some of the press. Some called her “a ridiculous charade.” Others suggested someone should just pull back the curtain to “expose the inflated Williams and her inflated ego.”

Serena felt otherwise. Drawing on her power game and considerable will, she marched through an imposing draw to reach the final, where she thrashed USO champ Maria Sharapova 6-1, 6-2 to gain her eighth Slam crown. Clearly, Serena’s desire, conditioning and form had returned. But then the enigmatic Williams did the expected and pulled out of her next tournament in Bangalore. And while Serena was gone, longtime No. 1 Justine Henin — who had pulled out of Australia to recover from her divorce — returned and looked focused in winning Dubai and Doha. Serena could relate to that state of being last year, but not this season as she strode into Miami and knocked down a standout field, including Sharapova, Czech teen Nicole Vaidisova and then perhaps her toughest foe, Henin, 0-6, 7-5, 6-3 in the final.

The victory was incredibly significant. After all, it was the five-time Slam champ from Belgium who stopped her Serena Slam back at ‘03 Roland Garros. While Serena got revenge two weeks later at Wimbledon, it was the controversial French match (where a tearful Serena accused Justine of cheating and was roasted by the crowd) that stood out. The two hadn’t played since that summer, and while the rankings now list Henin as No. 1, Serena’s victory showed that despite her No. 11 ranking, she was the queen of the first quarter. Not surprisingly, Serena lost in the first round at Charleston due to a groin injury. After winning the WTA’s two biggest tournaments, Serena has to at least be given a shot at the calendar-year Slam, a thought that would have been unheard during the past two years when she was battling a knee injury and taking self-imposed mental rests.

U.S. Open champ Sharapova has been one of the most mentally tough teens the tour has ever seen. So after she got her derriere kicked by Serena in the Aussie Open final, it was thought she certainly would promptly turn her fortunes around. Not so fast. Maria’s perplexing trouble with her once formidable serve continued. She retired from a match in Tokyo with a hamstring injury and then, at Indian Wells, was bullied by Vera Zvonareva, a player she had adeptly handled during the past two years. Then, in Miami, the powder-puff-serving Russian was destroyed by Serena once again, this time 6-1, 6-1, the worst defeat she had suffered in three years.

Some joked that the Russian contracted Kournikova or Dementieva-itis on her serve, but then, a week later, Sharapova disclosed that she had injured her right shoulder at a Hong Kong exo before the Aussie Open and had developed a case of severe tendonitis. She could be out of action until mid-May. The always-battling Maria has never been in a more fragile state.

After reaching the finals in the Shanghai Masters Cup and winning Sydney, a sizzling James Blake came into the Aussie Open as a top-5 seed for the first time in his career. But then he began to flame out and by the time he showed up for the U.S.’s Davis Cup tie against Spain in April, his fire was barely charring bone-dry kindling.

He went down to Fernando Gonzalez in the fourth round of the Aussie Open and couldn’t get over on Xavier Malisse in the Delray Beach final. Then his wheels really came off as he went 3-5 in his next five events, failing to defend his Vegas title and going down early in Indian Wells and Miami, and he fell to No. 9 in the rankings.

“What I need to do,” said Blake, “is to learn from the disappointment. Sometimes that pushes you further.” Blake must have taken a masters-level course, as he righted his ship in the Davis Cup quarters, scoring two wins against Spain. And now, on to the clay (ugh)...

It’s hardly shocking that the U.S. has reached the Davis Cup semis. That’s common turf for America’s power-laden squad. It’s the way they did it. First, the team actually won an away tie — and on clay no less — as Andy Roddick showed power AND touch as he scored his biggest win ever on the slow stuff, beating Thomas Berdych to lead the U.S. to a 4-1 victory in Ostrava.

Then, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the team actually dominated for the first time in memory as James Blake, Roddick and the Bryan Brothers all imposed their games on a testy Spanish group, that, yes, was missing some fellow named Nadal.

The widely respected New York-based magazine was known for its in-depth reports laden with detail and outspoken columns. But with the death last spring of its founder, Gene Scott, the wonk-friendly mag was sold to mighty IMG, which this March reduced its size and its frequency (to six times a year) and changed its focus so that it is now all about fashion, celebrity, glitz ‘n glamour. Longtime TW fans wondered, do we really needed 29 photos relating to Ashley Harkleroad’s fashion makeover? And why does a tennis publication have an “obsessions editor”? But maybe an eager audience awaits. Stay tuned.

Tennis used to be a change-resistant affair. But these days, the game’s all abuzz about electronic line calls, on-court coaches and tour schedules with more changes than a John Kerry policy position. [Ouch! No letters please.] Anyway, it seemed that folks were open to the idea of tournaments using a round-robin format. After all, fans would get to see more marquee players. But the confusing, untested (and some would say, unfair) system imploded in a dismal thud in Vegas, and tennis’ answer to the Edsel was promptly tossed in the trash bin.