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Hewitt has it Aussie teen wins AATP for second time
Posted: Sunday January 09, 2000 04:14 PM
ADELAIDE (Reuters) -- Australian teenager Lleyton Hewitt on Sunday came back strongly to beat top seed Thomas Enqvist of Sweden and win the Australian men's hardcourt championship for the second time in three years. "To beat the number four player in the world when he's obviously hitting the ball well -- all week he hasn't really struggled -- it gives me a lot of confidence going into this month's Australian Open," the sixth-seeded Hewitt said after his 3-6 6-3 6-2 victory. The win avenged Hewitt's loss to Enqvist in last year's final in Adelaide and makes the feisty Australian only the fifth player to have won the tournament twice. Hewitt, 18, playing in his third straight Adelaide final, struggled in the first set -- blitzed by the Swede's big serve and with his own service off target. But he steadied as the defending champion's serve and groundstrokes dropped away, taking a crucial break midway through the second set and outpacing the Swede in the third. "I think the first set today was probably my best set through the week," Enqvist said later. "After that, I lost my rhythm totally and I was making mistakes." Hewitt came out of nowhere to win in Adelaide in 1998, beating current world number one Andre Agassi and becoming, at a ranking of 550, the lowest-ranked player to win an ATP title. Enqvist had only dropped one set in four matches leading to the final, but knew he would have to play well against Hewitt who had helped Australia to Davis Cup victory last month and who was playing before his home-town crowd. "He's a tough player, especially on this court out there, but I didn't (play well) today, he was the better player," said Enqvist. Hewitt was elated. "It's a fantastic start to the year," he said before he was scheduled to return to the sweltering heat of centre court to contest the doubles final with Sandon Stolle against Australia's doubles champions Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge. Hewitt aims this year to break into the top 10 rankings and his eye is now firmly on the Australian Open, which begins in Melbourne on January 17. "I feel like I'm hitting the ball well enough to do a bit of damage over the next two weeks as well," he said. The first tournament win for the 2000 season makes Hewitt an early leader in the ATP's rankings race, a new points and ranking system in which every player starts the year at zero.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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