Federer Storms to His Third Final
Friday, July 1, 2005
Nobody in tennis battles more gallantly than Lleyton Hewitt, but gallantry alone was simply not enough in the face of another master class from Roger Federer in today's semi-finals of the men's singles.
Bidding for a hat-trick of titles, the Swiss advanced to Sunday's final by defeating the Australian - a Wimbledon winner in 2002 - 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) in two hours seven minutes. Hewitt's tenacity and determination, in the face of Federer's firepower and shot-making genius, were not enough to save him from an eighth successive defeat at the hands of the man who is indisputably world number one.
There was early indication for Hewitt what he would be up against when Federer unleashed his first ace to clinch the opening game and promptly followed by capturing the Hewitt serve after three deuces. In breaking the Australian, Federer produced one of his "miracle" shots, a forehand bent round the netpost and into the deepest corner of the court. Hewitt provided the best sort of tonic at once by breaking the mighty Federer serve, though it was a Swiss forehand error which brought it about, striking the tape as he went for a wrong-footing winner.
With the champion opting to stay back, even when his first serve was on target, the match rapidly resolved itself into a baseline battle, with Hewitt's two-fisted backhand combating Federer's one-handed stroke. Tirelessly though he ran and retrieved, it was soon clear that Hewitt's chief hope was to induce Federer errors through steady rallies, rather than go for the spectacular winner.
Hewitt succeeded in staying afloat through the next four games, but his hopes of salvaging the first set were capsized when Federer upped the pace to break for a second time and move into a 5-3 lead, a lead which became a one-set advantage after 36 minutes, set up by his third ace and then a serve which forced a netted backhand return from the Australian.
With the need to stabilise the drift of the match now becoming urgent, Hewitt worked as hard as only he can to blunt the Federer machine. Once again, his best was good enough only for four games of the second set before the defending champion pounced again, breaking for a 3-2 lead by courtesy of three backhand errors in that game from Hewitt.
That was all Federer needed to steer his way through to a two-set lead after one hour 11 minutes. He did, however, show rare fallibility by engineering, and then missing, a set point at 5-3 on the Hewitt serve when he netted a routine backhand. The delay was brief, as the Swiss served out for 6-4. He got to set point with a backhand drop volley of pure delicacy and then followed with a thunderous serve which Hewitt, at full stretch, chopped back into the netting.
Just in case Hewitt's morale needed dynamiting even further, Federer produced another of his shots from outer space in the fifth game of the third set. Hewitt uncorked a smash which would have won the point against most tennis professionals, but Federer, at full stretch to his right, somehow made contact for a forehand which dipped across Hewitt's body in mid-court, leaving him flat-footed and probably dazed.
Hewitt, facing another two break points, somehow escaped intact, but his nerves, and his temper, underwent another searching test in the next game when, with Federer at deuce on serve, a forehand from the champion was called out on the baseline. What would have given Hewitt a break point, his first since that early break in the opening set, was denied him by French umpire Pascal Maria's overrule, which was shown by TV replays to be correct.
Hewitt's determination kept the match alive into a tiebreak, but again Federer was the better man when it mattered and a Hewitt forehand into the netting saw the champion through to his third straight final.
Written by Ronald Atkin
