Steely Hewitt calm under fire
By Nyree Epplett
Saturday, May 29, 2004
On Saturday at Roland Garros, the last remaining Aussie Lleyton Hewitt rallied
from behind to out-muscle last year’s finalist Martin Verkerk 6-2 3-6 4-6 6-2
6-1 and move into the fourth round. The 12th seed is now just one match short
of his best ever showing on the red clay here.
“I feel as good as I’ve ever probably felt on clay,” said the Aussie. “But
going into the second week it doesn’t get any easier.”
And as much as he and every other fair dinkum Aussie would hate to admit it,
Australia’s devastating first round Davis Cup demise might just have been a
blessing in disguise for Hewitt in this event.
Today’s stirring win comes on the back of Hewitt’s most comprehensive
claycourt season yet, made possible by Australia’s Davis Cup loss to Sweden
in February. It gave the former world No1 the rare chance to get to Europe
early and hone his skills on his least favorite surface. He came into this
tournament with 14 gritty claycourt matches under his belt, more than ever
before, and it showed on Court Suzanne Lenglen today.
During the two hour, 48 minute tussle, the steely Hewitt never let up,
weathering a hearty Verkerk renaissance in the second and third sets and
breaking the Dutchman’s spirit by reeling off 10 straight games to steal
the victory.
The Aussie played a flawless first set, where he made no unforced errors,
before the giant Dutchman hit a purple patch that lasted two whole sets.
Verkerk upped the velocity on his groundstrokes, pushing Hewitt out to the
sides of the court with his explosive power and perfect placement. He
harnessed his brilliant one-handed backhand to secure a single service
break in each set, and closed out the third with a 204km serve that clipped
the top of Hewitt’s racquet and sprayed out into the stands. This was
the same Verkerk who had beaten former champ Carlos Moya and Guillermo
Coria enroute to the final last year. Throughout today’s encounter he
blasted down 54 winners, including 18 aces.
“I’ve never seen a guy hit that many lines on his serve,” said Hewitt.
“I guess that’s how he made the final last year.”
With his back to the wall, and down a break in the fourth (1-2), Hewitt
staged a comeback of titanic proportions. Sniffing a lull in the Verkerk
onslaught, the Aussie chopped up the pace and charged the net. The 19th
seed, now clearly waning physically and mentally, played a string of loose
points to hand Hewitt the next three service breaks and the set. He notched
up 61 unforced errors for the match.
“I was just trying to get a start into his service game. It would have taken
a hell of a lot to keep up that serve the whole of the match,” said the
former Wimbledon and US Open champ.
Hewitt scrambled and counter-punched his way through the fourth and fifth
sets, and finally broke Verkerk’s spirit with a brilliant topspin lob that
handed the Aussie the vital break in the decider (2-0). The No12 seed raced
to 5-0 in the fifth (10 games in a row) before Verkerk got back on the board.
“I knew that when I could get a look at his second serve that I had the
opportunity to win the point…When you play a guy like that, you have to
take your chances when you get them.
“I had to draw on everything I had out there today. I didn’t feel like I
was playing badly, it was just an awkward match. I didn’t feel I was doing
anything wrong.”
Hewitt has been flying the Aussie flag in Paris since round one, when the
only other three Australian men in the tournament, tripped up on the ‘terre
bateau’.
He now meets the winner of the clash between 2002 champ Albert Costa and
Belgian Xavier Malisse for a berth in the quarter final.
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