Raph’s Cool Blog

2001

2009

Andy Roddick (USA/6) defeated Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) 6-3 6-7 7-6 4-6 6-4

Yes, it really feels like 2001 again. Let’s go back in time. September 6, 2001 on Arthur Ashe Stadium in the 1/4 of the US Open, Lleyton Hewitt (20 years old at the time), number 4 in the world defeated the newbie Andy Roddick (just turned 19), number 18 in the world, on his way to his first Grand Slam title and to the number 1 rank later that year. The match ended after five sets (6-7 6-3 6-4 3-6 6-4), as it did today. But with a different outcome and different players. Today, Andy Roddick (26) has been a confirmed top ten player for seven years and is currently 6th in the world whereas Lleyton Hewitt (28) is recovering from hip surgery with a current ranking of 56th. And this time the American won this thriller in the 1/4 of Wimbledon. There’s another difference though: this victory is less likely to lead Roddick to his second Grand Slam title (after US Open 2003) because Roger Federer (n°2) and Andy Murray (N°3) seem a bit too much for Larry Stefanki’s boy. But who knows ? In New York in 2001, Hewitt had to face Pete Sampras (n° 10 and with 13 Grand Slams in his pocket at the time), Marat Safin (n°3 and defending champion) and Yevgeni Kafelnikov (n°7) on his way to his Graal.

Let’s be honest, he deserves it. At the end of the day, he was probably the best player out there. He served amazingly well (43 aces including some on very important points), his forehand was at its best and his backhand and volley seemed better than usual. Hewitt was less brilliant than against Del Potro but he didn’t give up anything, as we knew he would. He started very badly with two double faults in his first service game, which helped his opponent to break him and cost him the first set. He was a break up in the second before almost dropping the set again. At 2-5 in the tiebreak, he pulled himself together to create one of the most epic moments of the match, eventually taking the tiebreak and second set 12-10. At 6-6 in the third set, the Australian seemed to lose his concentration, lost the tiebreak 7-1 and gave up his serve to find himself down 0-2 in the fourth set.

At this moment, A-Rod seemed on his way to a semifinal clash against Briton (and only hope of a whole people) Andy Murray. But Lleyton Hewitt is only beaten when the last ball is gone and there was no way he’d give Roddick an easy victory. He broke twice and took the set 6-4. Fifth sets are often great tennis moments, epic battles. This one was not different. There was break points on both sides but finally Roddick prevailed. A parameter might have been more important than others: serve. Hewitt’s serve was too weak (59% first serve, 9 double faults) for him to be able to secure his service games. He struggled to keep his serve during the whole match whereas Roddick could fire a big serve at any given moment.

If we were to draw conclusions so far in this tournament, we would say that the old generation is far from dead (also thanks to Tommy Haas (31 years old and former number 2 in the world) who upset world number 4 Novak Djokovic) and even on the contrary: Roddick has been improving his game, especially the strokes that were called weak not so long ago and Hewitt is still on his way up to the top 20 and maybe even better. It’s 2001 all over again !

Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) defeated Radek Stepanek (CZE/23) 4-6 2-6 6-1 6-2 6-2

Even though Lleyton Hewitt is currently 56th in the world (that will have changed a lot by December, that’s for sure) and his Grand Slam titles are way back in time, there’s one thing you’ll never be able to take from him: his fighting spirit. “Yeah, obviously, mate !” will be his answer if you ask him the question.

So his famous fighting spirit opened Hewitt’s way to the final eight today against Radek Stepanek (23rd seed) from Czech Republic. After his shy (not to say shaky) start (and Stepanek quick start with bold attacks and good serves), he found himself two sets down. When the Australian asked for the trainer at 4-6 2-5, only the “Fanatics” from Down Under still believed in their star’s chances.

However, after this medical time out, the former number one got his best tennis back and improved his serve percentage to lead 4-0 before a brief rain delay. Afterwards, Hewitt continued playing well, jumping on every occasion, to win the match in five sets (he came back from two sets to love for the 6th time of his career) against a Stepanek paying for his two previous five-setters and suffering from a knee injury.

For the first time since 2006, Lleyton Hewitt is back in 1/4 in a Grand Slam. And he can also thank his Aussie supporters for that, as he did at the end of the match by giving them towels and wristbands and telling the BBC journalist that they deserved to be offered a few beers. So “cheers, mate !” as Lleyton said at the end of the interview. See you on Wednesday for a classic match between Lleyton Hewitt and Andy Roddick !

Andy Murray (GBR/3) bat Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI/19) 2-6 6-3 6-3 5-7 6-3

Le public du Centre Court de Wimbledon se souviendront de ce 29 juin 2009 ! Tout d’abord pour la première fermeture du fameux toit (même s’il avait déjà été fermé samedi en toute fin de journée) pendant le match Safina-Mauresmo, toit qui a permis à Murray et Wawrinka de terminer leur match au bout de la nuit sous une lumière artificielle. Car c’était surtout cela qui valait le déplacement en ce septième jour du tournoi. Qui aurait pensé que le Vaudois allait pousser l’Ecossais dans ses derniers retranchements ? Sûrement pas les nombreux sujets de Sa Très Gracieuse Majesté présents dans la majestueuse enceinte. Et il faut bien dire que du côté helvétique on n’y croyait que moyennement après la performance en demi-teinte de Stan face au modeste Jesse Levine, 133e mondial de son état.

D’emblée, le citoyen de Saint-Barthélémy enflammait le match, notamment avec son somptueux revers qui fut sa meilleure arme presque quatre heures durant, pour empocher facilement le premier set à la surprise générale face à un Murray “à côté de ses pompes”. La stupeur passée le numéro 3 mondial retrouvait peu à peu son jeu de défense extraordinaire (avec notamment un coup droit croisé, que ce soit en passing, en retour ou en attaque de fond de court, tout simplement inarrêtable) et ne commettait presque plus de fautes, au contraire de Wawrinka qui en commettait de plus en plus et servait de moins en moins bien.

C’est à ce moment que débute le festival de balles de break manquées (4 sur 14 réussies au final). Murray gagne tous les points importants et se détache deux manches à une. On se dit alors que, comme d’habitude, ce match sera celui des occasions manquées pour le Suisse. Mais au moment où on n’y croit plus, Wawrinka convertit enfin une balle de break à 5-5 dans le quatrième set pour emmener son adversaire dans un cinquième set dantesque, final ô combien mérité pour un match de toute beauté.

Et même si c’est Murray qui l’emporte au forceps, au grand soulagement de toute la Grande Bretagne, on ne peut pas reprocher grand chose à Stan (contrairement à ses autres défaites en Grand Chelem, notamment contre Gonzalez à Paris en 2008, contre Safin à Wimbledon la même année ou encore contre Chela à New York en 2007) qui a été courageux jusqu’au bout, ne lâchant jamais son os. Andy Murray a su remporter les points les plus importants et ainsi justifier son statut de numéro 3 mondial et prétendant au titre sur le gazon londonien. Le prochain adversaire au menu du Britannique sera l’autre revenant (avec Hewitt et Haas), l’Espagnol et ancien numéro 1 mondial Juan Carlos Ferrero.

Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) defeated Ivo Karlovic (CRO/26) 6-7 6-7 7-6 6-4 6-3

It’s done ! After a nearly four-hour battle (3h56), Lleyton Hewitt leaves the court. He has just beaten Ivo Karlovic from Croatia 6-7 6-7 7-6 6-4 6-3, thus winning his 28th match in 5 sets (for 13 defeats) and coming back from 2 sets down for the fifth time in his career. And this time wasn’t the easiest ! Ivo Karlovic has a tolerable forehand, a mediocre backhand, absolutely no footwork but, damn it, he’s got some serve ! The Croatian giant (2,08 m.) fired 55 aces to beat his own previous world record (51) During the first two sets his average was of more than 2 aces per game and he finished the match with 1,96 ace per game. This is just plain amazing ! How are you supposed to break his serve even once ? Ask Lleyton Hewitt, he did it four times.

Speaking about Lleyton Hewitt, being able to win a match (and even more this kind of match) in Grand Slam after his hip injury (a very serious injury as far as tennis is concerned, Gustavo “Guga” Kuerten and Magnus Norman never got their best tennis back after going through hip surgery) followed by surgery in 2008 is a really good achievement. He could grab his racket again in competition in Sydney on January 12, 2009 five months after hitting his last balls at the Olympics in Beijing in August 2008. Then, he clinched his 27th title in Houston on April 12, the first since March 2007 in Las Vegas (Vegas, baby !). The Australian champion and former number 1 is on a good path to play his way back to the top (I mean at least top 20 but I’m not even thinking about the first rank and Lleyton isn’t either). And he’s still in the draw in Paris looking at a potential third round against Rafael Nadal, the lord of clay. And the last player he played against before his forced five-month pause. A nice reward for a great player.

Rafael Nadal (ESP/1) defeated Fernando Verdasco (ESP/14) 6-7 6-4 7-6 6-7 6-4

Tennis is the most wonderful sport when it’s played like that. Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco played the absolute match at a level I thought one could reach only in the craziest dreams. Every time you thought you had seen the best rally ever, they managed to show you a better one. There are no words to describe what happened on the Rod Laver Arena today (or night in Australia). If you haven’t seen this match, there’s no way for you to understand how good it really was, even if you have a look at the absolutely amazing statistics: 20 aces for Verdasco, 12 for Nadal; 52 winners and only 25 unforced errors for Nadal, the incredible total of 95 winners for 76 unforced errors for Verdasco; 193 points won by Nadal, 192 by Verdasco. This was just supernatural.

5 hours and 14 minutes. What a battle ! The two guys we were looking at weren’t tennis players anymore, they were warriors. Special congratulations to Fernando Verdasco, who left the court with a fantastic standing ovation after committing two of his four double faults in the last game, including one on the match point. A very sad way to finally lose for a stunning player who has deserved our admiration for his whole tournament and especially this match, of course. He made the crowd absolutely extatic with his huge forehand, in spite of his weaker backhand and, above all, with his phenomenal courage that made him win the fourth set after a sensational tiebreak when we thought it was finished for him since he was starting to cramp. Instead of that, he began to hit even harder, if possible, to give this match the fifth set it needed to really stay in the memories.

As far as Rafael Nadal is concerned, he’s the best player in the world at the moment, no question, and he proved it. Both players were on top of their game for 5 sets and 5 hours but, in the end, he’s the guy going further. We have to give him credit for his perfect physical condition and his unbelievable capacity to control his nerves and strengthen his game in tough moments. Hat trick, Mister !  He won the right to play the royal final against Roger Federer everybody was expecting, to decide who will be the last man standing.  But will he be able to give his best, especially if the match is long ?  The answer will take place on Sunday at 9.30 a.m., be on time !

They said so (you can almost hear their delicious Spanish accent through this transcription):

Rafael Nadal: “So was too tough. But for sure for me is amazing be in this final, especially with one match like today, no? Fernando was playing I think his best level in his career. He continues like this, he’s gonna have chances for be in any number of the ranking, no? So for win against Stepanek, 6‑4, 6‑0, 6‑0, against Murray and against Tsonga, he must play very well, no? He’s doing very well, yeah. Too well. (…) But today was, yeah, one of these matches you gonna remember long time, no? Well, the emotion was big, because in the last game with the Love‑40 I start to cry. Was too much tension, no? (…) He deserve this final, too, because his level was very well, very good. (…) Well, this little bit unlucky play one match like today, too hard. So for sure Roger gonna be in much better performance physically than me for the final. (…) Well, always is ‑ I don’t know ‑ special play against Federer any match, no? You play another final of Grand Slam is more exciting, no? (…) But for sure for me is amazing play another final of Grand Slam. Here in Australia, the first one. Well, unlucky all the time is against the same: the best. For sure, I prefer another opponent. But that’s makes big the sport, too, no, finals like this. (Talking about his position far from the baseline) Was tough to be more inside, no? What do you think? Did you see the speed of the ball or not (laughter)? I would love to be more inside, yeah. I gonna try to be more inside for the final, but I am playing against Federer.”

Fernando Verdasco: “You know, is sad, no, to play one match like this and lost after five hours. But, you know, for the other side, I need to be proud for the tournament I made and the level I played today also. I think it was unbelievable match. You know, we both played unbelievable. I think, you know, Rafa, I said always, you know, in these matches, five sets, he is the toughest player. You know, and I was there all the time, too. So, you know, for sure I will have this match in my mind all my life. You know, I’m so proud of all the things I made today and these two, almost two weeks. (…) But, you know, about the age? I don’t know what to say, no (laughter)? Anyway, you know, I was practicing this pre‑season in Las Vegas, like everybody knows, with Gil (Reyes, Andre Agassi’s ex-physical trainer). And Agassi have the best career after 30. So I’m 25. I’m so young (smiling). (…) We played unbelievable match. We need to be happy, no? (…) He (Nadal)’s a big friend. I wish him the best of luck in the final. I hope that he will win. (…) With Rafa you need to win the point three times more than with all the others.”

http://www.australianopen.com

Fernando Verdasco (ESP/14) bat Andy Murray (GBR/4) 2-6 6-1 1-6 6-3 6-4

Qui aurait prédit qu’il serait le premier du carré d’as à baisser pavillon ? Fernando Verdasco, héros de la finale de Coupe Davis 2008, avait décidé qu’il était l’heure pour Andy Murray de faire ses bagages. Malgré le fait qu’il a marqué un point de plus que son adversaire (138 contre 137), Murray voit ses espoirs de remporter son premier titre du Grand Chelem reportés à plus tard. Dans un match où toute deuxième balle de service était quasiment interdite (surtout pour Verdasco, 34% de points remportés sur deuxième service) sous peine de perte du point presque systématique, le “petit Nadal” s’est engouffré dans la brèche d’une baisse de Murray dans ce compartiment du jeu pour faire le break décisif au septième jeu (le fameux) du cinquième set. Servant quant à lui de mieux en mieux, souvent aux environs de 215 km/h en première balle, Verdasco n’a pas tremblé au moment de conclure.

Pour quelqu’un qui n’avait jamais passé les huitièmes de finale en Grand Chelem et s’était toujours arrêté au 2e tour au plus tard à Melbourne, le gaucher de Madrid (25 ans) s’est comporté comme un vieux briscard pour arracher cette superbe victoire. Dans un style de jeu très ibérique, il a assommé Murray en lui faisant faire l’essuie-glace à chaque fois qu’il avait l’occasion de contrôler l’échange avec ses grosses frappes liftées. Ana Ivanovic lui aurait-elle donné des ailes ?*

*Tous les fans de tennis avertis auront corrigé d’eux-mêmes^^ C’est évidemment la rupture qui lui a donné des ailes.

Fernando Gonzalez (CHI/13) bat Richard Gasquet (FRA/24) 3-6 3-6 7-6(10) 6-2 12-10

Aucun des deux ne méritait de perdre et pourtant il en fallait un. C’est la dure loi du sport. Fernando Gonzalez a été capable de placer le coup de rein décisif au 22e jeu de cette cinquième manche somptueuse. Richard Gasquet avait pourtant pris un bien meilleur départ en empochant les deux premiers sets haut la main, mais on connaît les qualités de battant du Chilien qui ne s’avoue jamais vaincu. Les deux hommes ont ainsi pu nous offrir un magnifique combat, comme on en attend beaucoup en Grand Chelem.

Ce match aura été riche en moments d’anthologie, comme ce fantastique tie-break du troisième set qui s’est terminé (ironie du sort) sur le même score que la manche décisive en faveur de Gonzalez. Mais le plus incroyable est le fait que le match s’est joué sur un rythme infernal tout au long des cinq manches et ce pendant plus de quatre heures. Malgré une fatigue physique indéniable, les deux joueurs se sont montrés au sommet de leur art jusqu’au bout, se rendant coup pour coup, les coups gagnants tombant comme des fruits mûrs (85 pour Gonzalez, 80 pour Gasquet).

La défaite de Gasquet ne vient toutefois pas ternir le bilan de l’armada française avec Monfils (qui est très, très fort jusqu’à maintenant), Simon et Tsonga qui se sont brillament qualifiés pour les huitièmes de finale. Les matches des deux prochains jours sont d’ailleurs particulièrement alléchants avec notamment Dokic-Kleybanova (pour un énième exploit de l’Australienne ?), Baghdatis-Djokovic (qui a l’air d’être nettement le moins fort des “Fabulous Four” cette semaine), Verdasco-Murray, Blake-Tsonga, Simon-Monfils. Vivement demain !

P.S. On ne parlera pas de Nadal, ça fait partie des sujets qui fâchent^^ et on ajoutera au passage que Hewitt ne perd jamais contre le premier venu