|
 |   |
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE |  |
Favorite falters Hewitt loses opener to Gambill
Posted: Tuesday June 27, 2000 02:28 PM
LONDON (Reuters) -- Australia's rising teenage star Lleyton Hewitt was brought crashing down to earth at Wimbledon on Tuesday when he was beaten 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 by American Jan-Michael Gambill in the first round. It was the biggest shock of the tournament so far as Hewitt had beaten Pete Sampras in the final of his last tournament on grass at Queen's and was on a 13-game winning streak when he came to Wimbledon. But he put in a sadly lackluster display against Gambill, ranked 56 in the world. The American outclassed him in the first two sets, refused to give in when 5-2 down in the third, and thoroughly deserved his shocking victory. Having beaten grasscourt maestro Sampras 6-4, 6-4 in the Queen's final, Hewitt was second favorite for the men's title here but he never really got into the match to the astonishment of the Centre Court crowd. Gambill had only advanced beyond the second round in one of his 11 Grand Slam appearances. Only twice this year had he been able to win more than one match in a tournament. But he seized the moment on Wimbledon's most famous stage with a vengeance. In the first set Hewitt's serve was broken in the sixth game. The first break point he saved with an ace but then Gambill broke him with a backhand pass. It was enough to give him the set. The second set was a disaster for the out-of-sorts Hewitt. Unforced errors abounded, his first serve deserted him and Gambill's returns were devastating. Gambill broke Hewitt in the very first game and again in the fifth, which Hewitt lost ignominiously on a double fault to go 4-1 down. He never recovered. Hewitt found some form in the third set, racing to a 5-2 lead and making the American look flat-footed. But Gambill never gave up. He saved three set points at 5-2 and clawed his way back to level the set at 5-5. Playing like a man possessed, the 23-year-old from Spokane, Washington, would not be denied, saving two break points before clinching victory on his first match point.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
