- News>
- Tennis
Henman made to eat humble pie by Hewitt despite heroics
Rotterdam, Netherlands, Feb 23: Lleyton Hewitt underlined his supremacy over Tim Henman with a 6-3 6-3 victory to reach the World Indoor Tournament final against second seed Juan Carlos Ferrero.
Rotterdam, Netherlands, Feb 23: Lleyton Hewitt underlined his supremacy over Tim Henman with a 6-3 6-3 victory to reach the World Indoor Tournament final against second seed Juan Carlos Ferrero.
The Australian sixth seed was bidding for his 21st singles title yesterday when he faced French Open champion Ferrero, who brought defending champion Max Mirnyi's run to an end with a 6-7 6-3 7-6 win.
The Adelaide baseliner had never been beaten by the British number one in six previous encounters and soon made it seven.
Asked why he had such a good record against Henman, former world number one Hewitt Saturday said: ''I've really got no idea. Maybe my game doesn't match up that well against him but I've played pretty well every time I've played against him.''
Henman had stepped on to the court with high expectations after ending world number one Roger Federer's 16-match winning streak in ATP-sanctioned events on Friday.
However, the 29-year-old British number one, who had taken just two sets off his opponent in their previous meetings, dropped his serve in the third game after whipping a forehand long and failed to dent Hewitt's serve in the first set.
He won only four points on the Australian's serve before being broken for a second time to lose the set.
Henman dumped a backhand volley into the net to hand Hewitt his first set point, which the former Wimbledon champion converted by forcing the fifth seed into a forehand error.
Three times a runner-up at the Dutch port city, Henman broke Hewitt in the first game of the second but that proved to be a blip as Hewitt went on to level at 2-2 with a superb crosscourt winner past a net-charging Henman.
Bureau Report
The Australian sixth seed was bidding for his 21st singles title yesterday when he faced French Open champion Ferrero, who brought defending champion Max Mirnyi's run to an end with a 6-7 6-3 7-6 win.
The Adelaide baseliner had never been beaten by the British number one in six previous encounters and soon made it seven.
Asked why he had such a good record against Henman, former world number one Hewitt Saturday said: ''I've really got no idea. Maybe my game doesn't match up that well against him but I've played pretty well every time I've played against him.''
Henman had stepped on to the court with high expectations after ending world number one Roger Federer's 16-match winning streak in ATP-sanctioned events on Friday.
However, the 29-year-old British number one, who had taken just two sets off his opponent in their previous meetings, dropped his serve in the third game after whipping a forehand long and failed to dent Hewitt's serve in the first set.
He won only four points on the Australian's serve before being broken for a second time to lose the set.
Henman dumped a backhand volley into the net to hand Hewitt his first set point, which the former Wimbledon champion converted by forcing the fifth seed into a forehand error.
Three times a runner-up at the Dutch port city, Henman broke Hewitt in the first game of the second but that proved to be a blip as Hewitt went on to level at 2-2 with a superb crosscourt winner past a net-charging Henman.
Bureau Report