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Hew, that was close! Top seed survives five-set epic with SchalkenPosted: Thursday July 04, 2002 12:57 PMLONDON (Reuters) -- World number one Lleyton Hewitt had to dig himself out of a deep hole at Wimbledon on Thursday before beating determined Dutchman Sjeng Schalken 6-2 6-2 6-7 1-6 7-5 in a pulsating quarterfinal. The top seed has now thrown down the gauntlet to British hopeful Tim Henman, who will be hoping to snap a five-match losing streak against Hewitt when the pair take off their gloves and prepare to do battle in the semifinals. "It doesn't bother me who I'm playing," the 21-year-old Hewitt said afterwards. "If you can't get up for a Wimbledon semifinal you might as well pack up your racket." Hewitt, coming into the match on the back of an 11-match winning streak on grass, faced his first real test of the championships after totally outplaying Schalken in the opening two sets. Schalken resisted bravely in the third set, fending off Hewitt's assault on his serve and saving four match points thanks to some erratic service returns from the Australian. "I must have had about 500 break points in the third set and I didn't get a single one," Hewitt said. "Then he got confident, he stepped it up and it turned into a dog-fight," he added. A tiebreak ensued and after the players traded early minibreaks, Schalken was handed another when umpire Javier Moreno-Perez overruled a linesman. Believing Schalken's shot had landed beyond the baseline, an incensed Hewitt threw up his hands in disbelief and repeatedly shouted at the umpire: "Go and look at the ball mate." Clearly trying to keep a lid on his emotions, Hewitt lost his first set of the tournament only moments later when netted a backhand to cede the tiebreak 5-7. The chants of the strong Australian support failed to have the desired affect as Schalken cranked up his game a rung at the start of the fourth set. The 25-year-old charged through the set to level the contest after two hours and 52 minutes by attacking Hewitt's faltering serve and grabbing breaks in the fourth and sixth games. First blood In an emotionally charged decider, both players had early opportunities to break but Schalken drew first blood when he carved out a glorious backhand crosscourt winner to end a baseline rally. Hewitt, aiming to become the first Australian since Pat Cash in 1987 to win the ultimate prize in grasscourt tennis, refused to buckle and looked up to his girlfriend Kim Clijsters in the players' box. He finally ended a run of four successive service breaks in the seventh game by bludgeoning a flurry of unplayable serves past Schalken. As the duo's respective fan clubs tried to spur their men to victory, Hewitt kept his nerves in check and ripped a forehand past the 18th seed to stave off a break point. Pumping his fist and with his trademark cry of "C'mon" reverberating around court one, Hewitt managed to gain advantage on the next point when Schalken clipped his racket to send the ball wide into the tramlines. Schalken was not about to give up after having battled for over three and a half hours. He pushed the gritty Australian to the limit just two games later and Hewitt once again had to dip into his bag of tricks to pull out some scintillating serves to get him out of trouble. The U.S. Open champion finally gained his fifth match point at 6-5 up on the Dutchman's serve when Schalken's forehand down the line fell inches wide of the tramlines. Hewitt fell to his knees in relief and Clijsters jumped up
to applaud her man.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
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