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Lapentti beats Hewitt, wins GP at Lyon
Posted: Sunday October 24, 1999 12:55 PM
LYON, France (Ticker) -- Six seed Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador won his first indoor title Sunday, defeating 13th-seeded Australian Lleyton Hewitt in straight sets at the $750,000 Grand Prix of Tennis. Lapentti, who had never won a match on carpet and had only two indoor wins prior to this tournament, cruised to a 6-3, 6-2 victory for his third career title. He earned $101,500. Lapennti, ranked No. 14, won this year on the hard court RCA Championships in Indianapolis in August and was a finalist at the Swiss Open, losing to Albert Costa. His first career title was in 1995 at Bogota, Colombia. At 18 years and eight months, Hewitt was the youngest player in the draw and was coming off a semifinal appearance in Singapore last week. A two-time winner, Hewitt played in his fifth career final. He made the finals in Adelaide and Scottsdale early this season before winning the Citrix Tennis Championships at Delray Beach, Florida in May. His first ATP Tour title was as a wild card at Adelaide last year. Last year at this time Hewitt was ranked No. 129. He entered this event at a career-high No. 27. Lapentti was No. 69 at this time last year.
Both players played in Lyon for the first time.
© 2003 SportsTicker Enterprises, LP
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