Crowning achievement

New No. 1 Hewitt sweeps Grosjean to take title

Lleyton Hewitt beat Sebastien Grosjean 6-3, 6-3, 6-4. AP

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- Lleyton Hewitt showed why he's the world No. 1 in a straight-sets disposal of Sebastien Grosjean to clinch the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup at Sydney's SuperDome.

Three months ago, Hewitt had never won a major. With his 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 win Sunday over Grosjean, the 20-year-old Aussie added the last 2001 ATP title on offer to the year-end top ranking he'd earned earlier in the $3.7 million tournament.

He is the youngest man to finish the year at No. 1 or hold the top ranking.

"I feel good in myself ... the way that I'm playing, the way I'm handling myself at the moment," said Hewitt, who sparked a two-month run to the top by winning September's U.S. Open, his maiden Grand Slam title.

Hewitt finished the year with a season-high six titles, equal with Brazil's Gustavo Kuerten -- the man he replaced at No. 1.

He had a 79-17 win-loss record, including a season-high 17-match winning stretch.

Hewitt went into the Masters Cup trailing defending champion Kuerten by 48 points in the Champions Race.

But unlike Kuerten, who seized the 2000 year-end No. 1 ranking by winning the Masters Cup at Portugal with a win against Andre Agassi in the final, Hewitt already had assured the top-ranking before the semis when he beat compatriot Patrick Rafter.

Kuerten, who lost all his matches in Sydney and failed to add to his 771 Champions Race points, finished the year at No. 2. Agassi was No. 3 with 704 points and Yevgeny Kafelnikov moved into No. 4 by reaching the Masters Cup semifinals, where he lost to Grosjean.

After dropping his opening set against Grosjean in a round-robin match last Monday, Hewitt didn't lose another set as he added wins against Agassi, Rafter and then beat Juan Carlos Ferrero in the semis.

"It's given me confidence -- the players I've beaten this week and the way that I've done it," he added. "When I settled in and started to play my own game, I played some of the best tennis that I can play."

Hewitt raced to a 4-1 lead in the opening set Sunday and then, after dropping his own serve, sealed the set in 33 minutes.

He continually sent Grosjean scrambling into the corners, forcing the 23-year-old Frenchman to come to the net or shoot for low-percentage winners to get back into the match.

Hewitt served out at love when Grosjean sent three consecutive returns long.

In all, Grosjean fired 31 winners to Hewitt's 12, but also had 47 unforced errors to the Australian's 19.

Grosjean, who finished the year at No. 6, said he'd been too erratic in the final.

"I am disappointed because I didn't hit the ball as well as I did in my other matches," he said. "I made too many mistakes and Lleyton just played better than me."

Hewitt said the last week had been one of the best of his life.

"It's been a dream two months -- since winning the U.S. Open it's been getting better and better," said Hewitt, who dropped to his knees and then flopped onto his back behind the baseline after match point.

He thanked his coach Darren Cahill and girlfriend Kim Clijsters, who last week helped Belgium win the Fed Cup, as streamers and confetti floated down onto the purple court.

"It's been a tough road, but finally we got to the top," he said. "I don't know where we go from here."

Hewitt had strained his left hamstring earlier in the tournament and needed overnight treatment after winning his semifinal, but said it didn't impede him in the final.

After having to put the celebrations on ice after clinching the top ranking on Friday, he said he planned to have a drink Sunday and then get focussed on his next assignment: the Nov. 30-Dec. 2 Davis Cup final against France and a probable rematch with Grosjean.

Hewitt said he couldn't let the success "go to my head too much.

"I've got to put my head down and try and finish off the year with a Davis Cup win -- it would be a great way to finish off the year for me."

Hewitt helped Australia win the Davis Cup against France in 1999 and reach the final against Spain last year. He's 6-0 in Davis Cup ties in 2001, including an upset win over Kuerten in Brazil in the quarterfinals.

Before Hewitt, Jimmy Connors was 22 when he finished in the top spot in 1974 -- the year after computerized rankings were introduced.

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