 |
| |
|
 |
 |
||
 |
 |
||
 |
|||
EVENTS
CENTERS
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|
 |
Calm before the storm Hewitt takes care of Haas, braces for Roddick showdown
NEW YORK (AP) -- The vast stadium was mostly empty and the atmosphere sleepy as Lleyton Hewitt walked onto center court to complete his rain-interrupted match Wednesday morning at the U.S. Open. The fiery Australian will receive a much noisier reception in the quarterfinals Thursday night, when he plays New York's newest celebrity, American Andy Roddick. The matchup of tennis' two most prominent up-and-comers is sure to have Arthur Ashe Stadium abuzz. There will be cheers for Roddick and jeers for Hewitt, who made headlines and enemies with ill-advised, perhaps racially tinged comments during a tirade in a match last week. The No. 4-seeded Hewitt rallied Wednesday to beat Germany's Tommy Haas 3-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4, 6-2, showing again that his verbal stumbling hasn't impaired his fancy footwork through the draw. "I've gone out and known I've got a job to do," he said. "I haven't let stuff on the side affect what my tennis is capable of doing." Side stuff is likely to be inseparable from the tennis Thursday. Rowdy night crowds at the Open test the boundaries of this genteel sport, and they're sure to seize on Roddick's soaring popularity and Hewitt's tarnished reputation. The Aussie's penchant for emotional outbursts adds to the combustible mix. But he's braced for boos. "I'm just going to have to try to block it out," he said. "I've been able to do it in big matches such as the Davis Cup in Brazil. I'm just going to have to try and think about that and draw a lot of strength from those kind of matches." Roddick advanced to his first Grand Slam quarterfinal by winning the last match Tuesday night, beating fellow 19-year-old Tommy Robredo of Spain 6-2, 6-2, 6-4. Touted as the next American men's Grand Slam champion, Roddick needs three more wins to become the youngest men's titlist in Open history. "I'm supposed to wake up any minute now or something," he said. "But I'm going to try to stay asleep." His budding rivalry with Hewitt, 20, may develop into one of the game's best. They've met twice this year already, with Hewitt winning at Miami and again at the French Open when Roddick fell, strained his thigh and retired with the match even in the third set. "He's getting better and better," Hewitt said. "He's obviously a lot more confident now. He has proven to everyone that he can handle the pressure of being the next great hope. He's here." Hewitt remains on the rise, too. Small but speedy and steady from the baseline, he reached the semifinals at the Open last year and has been hailed by Sampras and others as a future Grand Slam winner. He trailed Haas 6-3, 2-2 when rain interrupted their match Tuesday. When they resumed, Hewitt's tireless grinding soon had the German frustrated and smashing his racket.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
