|
|
 |
 |   |
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Video Plus Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities 
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE | |
Hew the man Hewitt beats Rafter, ousts Kuerten at No. 1
Updated: Friday November 16, 2001 2:01 PM
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- Lleyton Hewitt is now No. 1, the youngest man to hold the top ranking in tennis. The 20-year-old Australian beat compatriot Patrick Rafter 7-5, 6-2 Friday at the Masters Cup and replaced slumping Gustavo Kuerten for the top spot at year's end. Kuerten staggered to the finish by losing all three of his matches at this tournament and dropping nine of his last 10 matches this season. "To do it at the age of 20 and to do it in Australia is a dream," Hewitt said. "It's an unbelievable feeling -- everything has gone my way this week. It couldn't have worked out better." Jimmy Connors had been the youngest player to achieve the year-end No. 1 ranking. He achieved the feat at 22 in 1974, the year after computerized rankings were introduced. Hewitt is the first Aussie to hold the No. 1 ranking and only the 12th player overall. This is the fourth straight year there has been a new No. 1, a first for the ATP. Kuerten, the defending champion at the Masters, lost to Yevgeny Kafelnikov 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 Friday. In another match, Juan Carlos Ferrero downed Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5).
Hewitt will play Ferrero in Saturday's semifinals. Kafelnikov will face Sebastien Grosjean in the other match. Kuerten, a three-time French Open champion, has been slowed by a groin injury that might force him to miss next year's Australian Open. Minutes after losing to Kafelnikov, the Brazilian began drinking champagne to mark the end of his season. "It was a special year," Kuerten said. "I was the main focus in all Brazil, all people all the time watching. Maybe they were proud. They were so excited about myself coming from nowhere and fighting against all these guys." Hewitt was assisted in his ascent to No. 1 by the failure of Kuerten and Andre Agassi to reach the semifinals in Sydney. Hewitt's victory over Rafter increased his Champions Race total to 783 points while Kuerten failed to add to his 771. A year ago, Kuerten overtook Marat Safin's 75-point margin to clinch the top ranking for 2000 by winning the Masters Cup in Portugal. His loss to Kafelnikov took all the pressure off Hewitt, who is aiming for his sixth title of 2001. "If I can come off this high, I'll be competitive," Hewitt said. "It hasn't sunk in yet. It's not every week that you experience such a high -- and in the middle of a tournament." The U.S. Open champion went into the tournament trailing Kuerten by 48 points. He earned 20 points for each of his round-robin wins against Grosjean, Agassi and Rafter. Hewitt entered the ATP tour at No. 797 in 1997 when at 15 years, 11 months, he became the youngest qualifier for the Australian Open. The following year, he upset Agassi en route to his first title in his hometown of Adelaide. He became the lowest-ranked tour winner in history at No. 550. His career has had bumps along the way. He has been fined for foul language on the court and once for insulting a chair umpire. He angered fans in Adelaide by calling them 'stupid' for cheering his rival last year. At the U.S. Open, Hewitt was criticized for a remark that some considered racist. He contended the comment was taken out of context. If Hewitt had lost to Rafter, he would have had to beat Ferrero to surpass Kuerten. And Rafter didn't make it easy. In the second game, he scrambled so hard for Hewitt's drop shot he had to jump the net. He wound up sprawled on the ground on the other side of the court. The pair traded breaks in the fifth and sixth games before Hewitt broke in the 11th game and then served out for the first set. Hewitt broke three times in the second set but needed six match points to finish his opponent. At the end, the pair embraced over the net. Hewitt acknowledged it was hard to beat a player who had motivated him and a rival he considered his "best mate on tour." "I hope he takes my No. 1," Kuerten said after his loss to Kafelnikov. "Because then I will have someone to pass."
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
