Hewitt earns quarter final against Gaudio
By Matt Cronin
Monday, May 31, 2004
Two-time Grand Slam champion Lleyton Hewitt made a major statement that he’s
planning on contending for the title when he out-steadied Belgium’s Xavier
Malisse 7-5 6-2 7-6 (6) on Monday to earn himself a quarter final clash with
Argentina’s Gaston Gaudio.
"I’m a little stronger," Hewitt said. "It’s helping me on this surface. My
preparation was better because I was feeling physically better this year. The
more I play on the surface, the more confident I get."
Playing a classically solid and intelligent match from the baseline, Hewitt
was forced to step up his offense in the third set after Malisse had found
his range. The Australian responded brilliantly, taking far more risks with
his forehand, charging the net at key moments and stretching the Belgian out.
"I was able to move him around and open his forehand up by going to his
backhand," Hewitt said. "I felt I was getting a lot more cheap points over
there. I tried to keep him on the move as much as possible."
While Malisse was often brilliant with his high flying forehand and served
big, he was never able to penetrate Hewitt’s backhand side or maintain his
patience in long rallies. In the end, it was Hewitt’s ability to entice
errors out of the mentally erratic Belgian that got him through to his first
quarter final here in three years.
The last French speaking player in the draw, Malisse came out pumped up and
broke Hewitt to 3-1 when the Australian committed a backhand error. Hewitt
broke Malisse back to 4-3, but then Malisse climbed all over the Australian
to break again to 5-3. But Malisse tweaked his back in the next game when he
stretched out for a backhand and couldn’t recover, as Hewitt raced a way
with the next four games, winning the set with a sweet backhand crosscourt
volley winner.
A discouraged Malisse was extremely inconsistent in the second set and was
broken three times.
But in the third set, Malisse’s back appeared to loosen up and he seriously
challenged the Aussie. He held break points on Hewitt’s serve in the second
and sixth games, but failed to convert them.
Yet in the eighth game, he forced the Australian into a forehand error and
gained the break to 5-3. However, Malisse again failed to serve it out and
the two clawed into the tiebreaker.
Hewitt played a series of uncharacteristically sloppy points early on and
then Malisse crushed an inside-out forehand winner and an ace to give himself
a 6-3 lead. But the Belgian then committed three unforced errors, watched
Hewitt caress a backhand volley winner and then missed a backhand wide to
hand Hewitt the contest.
"I was just trying to hang in there," Hewitt said. "I felt confident out
there. I didn’t have as many opportunities in the third set as I did in
the first two sets when I felt really on top of my game.
“He played a lot better in the third set and when you get to a tiebreaker,
anything can happen."
Gaudio defeated Russia’s Igor Andreev in straight sets and became one of
four Argentines to reach the quarters. He and Hewitt have split three-setters
on clay this year.
"He’s very confident on this surface," Hewitt said. I have to play
aggressive stay on my game and be confident."
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