Men's Match of the Day
Tennis News

Cincinnati - Final
Andre Agassi (11) def. Lleyton Hewitt (10) 6-3 3-6 6-2

Just to get here was big for both players. For Andre Agassi, he at last showed that there was something left -- and earned a Top Eight seed at the U. S. Open. Lleyton Hewitt probably didn't have as much to prove, but he did gain the same tangible benefit: He was assured at least the #8 ranking, and so a high Open seed.

Even for a three-setter, it was quite a grind. The points were long, and there were a lot of them. Four times in the first set, Hewitt had break point. He didn't convert any. Agassi managed to find one.

In the second, you got the feeling the wear and tear was getting to Agassi. This time, it was Hewitt who broke through. Not so. The American roared back in the third, earning one break early, and then breaking in the long final game when Hewitt double faulted.

And with that, Agassi is back all the way to #7 in the world. His sojourn outside the Top Ten proved very short. Perhaps more important, he's back up to #9 in the Race, though it's a rather distant #9.

He also has a significant monkey off his back. Agassi hadn't won a title since Houston in the spring of 2003. It had been a little longer still since his last big title, at Miami a few weeks before that. He hadn't won a summer hardcourt Masters since winning Cincinnati back to back in 1994-1995. Quite a turnaround.

The overall statistics: Agassi now has 59 titles, and 17 Masters titles -- the former first among active players (Hewitt is a distant second with 21), the latter the all-time record. He has won at least one Slam or Masters in 11 of the last 15 years (every year since 1990, inclusive, except for 1991, 1993, 1997, and 1998); obviously that means he's won at least one for six years straight. A Internet source (but a usually reliable one) notes that Agassi, at 34 years and three months, is the oldest ATP winner since a 37-year-old Jimmy Connors won Tel Aviv in 1989. Hard to argue with numbers like that!

Hewitt obviously lost, but he continues to re-establish himself as a top player. He's #8 in the rankings, and #5 in the Race; it's worth noting that he is the top healthy player to be skipping the Olympics. So he will go into the U. S. Open fully rested and ready. (As will Agassi, of course.) It looks as if the Lost Year is well and truly over.

Agassi wins Cincinnati Masters for third time

By TERRY KINNEY, Associated Press Writer
August 8, 2004


MASON, Ohio (AP) -- A resurgent Andre Agassi defeated tenth-seeded Lleyton Hewitt 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 on Sunday to win the Cincinnati Masters tournament.

Agassi, the 11th seed, beat 21-year-old Andy Roddick in the semifinals, then wore down the 23-year-old Australian Sunday. He broke Hewitt's serve three times, after Hewitt had been broken only once in five matches.

Hewitt had problems with his serve in the first set. With Agassi leading 3-2, Hewitt was serving 40-0 but lost four straight points before rallying to tie the set at 3. Two games later, he lost the first point by double-faulting, then hit the deciding point into the net to put Agassi up 5-3.

Still, Agassi had trouble putting away the set. Serving 15-40, he won the next four points, including a 120-mph ace.

In the second set, Hewitt broke Agassi to take a 5-3 lead. Agassi seemed to be regaining the pinpoint placement that had gotten better with each match, but his shot on game point was a fraction wide, and Hewitt raised his fists to his chest and let out a scream. He then served out the set to even the match.

Agassi broke Hewitt again in the third set to take a 3-1 lead, and Hewitt double faulted on match point.

That made Agassi, at 34, the oldest ATP Tour winner since Jimmy Connors won consecutive titles at Toulouse and Tel Aviv when he was 37 in 1989.

The win is Agassi's first in 17 months. He hadn't reached an ATP final since November at the Tennis Masters Cup. He earned $400,000 with the win, almost twice his earnings so far this year.

Hewitt won titles earlier this year at Sydney and Rotterdam.

Agassi had played much more tennis than Hewitt this week, and had a shorter rest after a grueling three-set win over second-seeded Roddick on Saturday night.

Agassi had played three, three-game sets while beating three seeded players, while Hewitt hadn't lost a set during the weeklong tournament.

Saturday's victory over Roddick moved Agassi into fifth place on the career list with his 807th win, passing Stefan Edberg.

Agassi has reached the finals at an ATP event 87 times and has 59 titles, the most of any active player. He fell out of the Top 10 last week for the first time since May 1999.

The win evened his record against Hewitt at 4-4. In their last match, Agassi beat Hewitt in three sets in the quarterfinals of the 2002 U.S. Open.
 

Hewitt gains final behind big serve
August 7, 2004
AP - Aug 4, 11:56 pm EDT

MASON, Ohio (AP) -- Lleyton Hewitt overpowered unseeded Tommy Robredo with his serve Saturday, rolling to a 6-3, 6-2 victory in the semifinals of the $2.5 million Cincinnati Masters.

In Sunday's title match, Hewitt will play the winner of the other semifinal between second-seeded Andy Roddick, the defending champion, and 11th-seeded Andre Agassi.

Hewitt won 88 percent of his first-serve points during the 54-minute match to reach his first Masters Series final this season. He has played in the finals in Cincinnati twice in the last three years, losing to Carlos Moya in 2002.

``I think I'm serving well,'' said Hewitt, seeded 10th. ``Yesterday, I didn't feel like I served great, but my second serve held up extremely well. Today, I felt like my first serve came back together.''

Hewitt hasn't lost a set during the weeklong tournament and has lost his serve only once. Robredo never figured out how to handle the Aussie's serve.

``He was putting a lot of first serves in, and the second serve was so fast,'' the Spaniard said. ``I had no chance to make rallies with his second serve. It was a return winner or miss because he was really close to the lines and changing the side every time -- forehand, backhand, volley. It was tough. I expected maybe a few double-faults, but he didn't make one.''

Neither player faced a break point until Robredo fell behind 15-40 in the eighth game. He saved the first break point before hitting a forehand into the net, an unforced error that gave Hewitt the advantage. Hewitt closed the set by capping a long rally with a lob.

``I was just trying to clean up my service game and wait for my opportunities,'' Hewitt said.

The second set was 2-2 when Robredo again faced two break points. He saved the first but lost the second on another unforced error, and Hewitt capitalized by winning the next eight points and 12 of the final 13.

``I knew that, well, maybe I had a little bit of a chance if I closed my eyes and I hit everything and the ball was going inside,'' Robredo said.

Hewitt, Robredo advance

By Melanie Watkins, mwatkins@advertiser-tribune.com
www.advertiser-tribune.com

MASON - Lleyton Hewitt is playing in the semifinals at the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters for the third time in four years. His opponent, Tommy Robredo, has never made it past the round of 16.

Chalk it up to what some would consider an easier draw for Robredo. But he still had to beat No. 7 seed Juan Carlos Ferrero to make it to Center Court today.

It didn't come effortlessly for the only player left in the field who has never held the No. 1 ranking. It took him three sets to crawl past Ferrero. While the 6-2, 6-3 match score against Fabrice Santoro Friday made it look like an easy win, Robredo needed four matchpoints and had to face 11 breakpoints to make it to the semifinals.

Hewitt, on the other hand, looks flawless on the court. The week in Cincinnati has seen the former No. 1 player stomp former top-ranked player Gustavo Kuerten, No. 5 seed Tim Henman and most recently No. 14 seed Marat Safin and also a former top-ranked player Marat Safin. Hewitt has yet to see a third set or tiebreaker along his path to the semifinals. And he has been broken only once in 38 service games.

"I think it is going to be a really tough match because Lleyton, he is coming back really good. I'm sure he want to finish the season No. 2 or No. 3. And if he wants to finish there he has to win tournaments like this, no?" Robredo said. "I just want to try to play my game and enjoy in the court."

Despite a 44 percent on first serves in his 6-4, 6-4 victory over Safin, Hewitt was not broken and double faulted only twice.

The statistics and the experience - while both players turned pro the same year, 1998, Hewitt has played in 385 matches to Robredo's 185 -seem to be stacking up on the side of Hewitt. Well, except for the glaring 0-1 all-time record he has against Robredo.

The last time these two players met was at Roland Garros in 2003. Robredo rallied from being down two sets to upset Hewitt.

Then again, that was on clay and today, Hewitt and Robredo will meet on a hard-court surface. Robredo is known more for his clay-court game.

"Well, Tommy, obviously, his favorite surface is clay, but he's got a good hard-court game," Hewitt said. "He's an aggressive baseline player. And, yeah, he's done well on hard court in the past."

Robredo expects today's match is going to be a difficult one. He admitted his record is much better on clay courts, even though he started tennis on hard courts.

"I think that my game is a little bit more easier to win matches on clay than on hard because I am playing baseline player, I play with topspin, I like to play long rallies," Robredo said. "When I play in hard court, when a guy serve really good or they make chip and charge or they do things to make the points shorter, it's not really easy for me to play like this."

The conditions in Cincinnati have not been easy. Every player has raved about the fast-flying balls and windy conditions. They are conditions which may favor Hewitt's style of play according to Safin.

"His type of game, it suits this weather. I mean, he just have to put back and run," Safin said after his quarterfinal defeat to Hewitt.

The same conditions that favored Hewitt are the ones that Safin felt led to his loss.

"For me to play in the wind is little bit tough," Safin said. "It was quite windy for me, and the balls became very small and they were flying. I couldn't put my game out. That's why it was so many unforced errors."

Safin had 30 unforced errors in the match while Hewitt had 13. But Safin also had 25 winners to Hewitt's 13 and 10 aces compared to the winner's two.

Where the match fell apart for Safin was that Hewitt converted on two of three breakpoints. Safin couldn't break Hewitt the two chances he saw.

"Didn't feel like I served great out there. Felt like I've been serving well in all the other matches this week," Hewitt said. "Today I didn't serve great, but I was able to back it up with, obviously, first hits."

Hewitt did not agree that the conditions were on his side.

"I don't think it probably favored one guy more than the other," he said.

"It's been swirling and a tough breeze, I think, all week. I just felt like I handled the breeze well out there today, though."

Hewitt was given his first breakpoint chance in game five of the first set.

It was the first break chance for both players in the match. Prior to that game, Hewitt and Safin had only taken three points from the other's serve in two return games.

Safin was down 30-40 when he pulled wide on a backhand. Following that, Safin had an opportunity to get the break back, twice, in Hewitt's next service game.

After pulling the game to deuce, Hewitt used a forehand winner and then a backhand winner to close it out.

Safin didn't see another break chance the rest of the match.

"If I could make a break back and he will be a little bit more nervous on his serve because he knew that I can break him," Safin said. "But then he get the confidence, and he was serving pretty well."

Robredo had no trouble getting break opportunities against Santoro. Of the five of 10 breakpoints Robredo converted on, two were with Santoro at love.

But Robredo also had to save nine of 11 breakpoints to make his way to victory.

If Hewitt gets as many opportunities to break Robredo as Santoro did, it could spell disaster for Robredo - especially considering Hewitt has been broken once in the tournament and relied on breaking others, instead of tiebreakers,to advance.

"I really like to make breaks, but I know that sometimes they going to make me breaks," Robredo said. "Hewitt is not a guy like (Ivo) Karlovic or like Safin, that he serve like 130 miles. He make a lot of first serve, but it's not strong enough to make like 20 aces. I think that it's going to be a lot of chances for him and for me to make breaks."

Hewitt overcomes wind to reach Masters semifinals

August 6, 2004

AP - Aug 4, 11:56 pm EDT


MASON, Ohio (AP) -- Lleyton Hewitt kept his poise in windy conditions and beat Marat Safin 6-4, 6-4 Friday to reach the semifinals of the $2.5 million Cincinnati Masters.

Tenth-seeded Hewitt, who hasn't lost a set during the tournament, will play Tommy Robredo on Saturday. Robredo beat Fabrice Santoro 6-2, 6-3 in a matchup of unseeded players.

Fourth-seeded Carlos Moya met No. 11 Andre Agassi and No. 2 Andy Roddick took on wild-card entrant Tommy Haas later Friday in the other quarterfinal matches.

Playing in winds of 10 to 15 mph, Hewitt took advantage of 30 unforced errors by Safin, who couldn't cope with the conditions and grew increasingly frustrated as the match went along.

``It was quite windy,'' said 14th-seeded Safin. ``The balls became very small, and they were flying. Actually, I couldn't put my game out. I didn't feel comfortable.

``For him, it was OK. His type of game suits this weather. He just has to (hit) back and run. I have to create something and today, I couldn't.''

Hewitt reached the tournament's semifinals for the third time in four years by hitting steady strokes and letting his opponent self-destruct. Hewitt had only 13 unforced errors.

``It was swirling, but we've had a tough breeze all week,'' Hewitt said. ``I felt like I handled it better. I just played consistently. I wanted to try to make him hit extra balls and move around.''

Safin hadn't lost his serve in the tournament until he sent a backhand wide, giving Hewitt a 3-2 lead in the first set. Hewitt saved a pair of break points in the next game, then closed it out.

Those were the only break points Hewitt faced during the match.

Safin, limited last season by torn ligaments in his left wrist, had the wrist retaped by a trainer before the ninth game of the first set. He also received a warning from the chair umpire for breaking his racket just before set point.

Safin, known for such outbursts, said he was bothered by the way the wind was affecting his game.

``I just couldn't finish the points,'' he said.

HEWITT HITS FORM AS TIM TUMBLES OUT
Thursday 5th August 2004
Sky Sports

British number one Tim Henman lost in the third round of the Cincinnati Masters as he was beaten 6-1 6-4 by Lleyton Hewitt.

The Australian was seeded 10 and the Brit fifth, but Hewitt made light work of Henman as he advanced to the quarter-finals where he will face Marat Safin.

Henman reached the semi-finals of the French Open and the last eight at Wimbledon, but he could only win one game in the first set - and just four points in the first five games - as his opponent dominated from the start.

Hewitt hardly relented in the second set. He had two match points at 5-3 but, though Henman recovered to win his service game, his defeat was confirmed the following game.

It was Henman's eighth match against Hewitt and his eighth defeat as the younger man's superiority in their encounters continued.

Hewitt told Sky Sports: "I've stepped it up in every match in this tournament and made a fast start in this match.

"I feel like I'm playing well and this is good preparation for the US Open and hopefully I can keep it going."


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Henman Fails to Break Hewitt Hoodoo

By Phil Casey, PA Sport

Tim Henman tonight slumped to his eighth consecutive defeat to Lleyton Hewitt in the Masters Series event in Cincinnati.

Hewitt brushed aside the British number one 6-1 6-4 to move into the quarter-finals and looks in superb form ahead of the US Open later this month.

Henman has never beaten his Australian rival and never remotely looked like ending that depressing sequence as he won just four points in the opening five games of the first set, twice losing his serve as Hewitt came out firing on all cylinders.

The Briton number one was rightly furious with a bad line call which contributed to the second service break, but in truth he was a distant second best against the former world number one.

He finally held serve to win his first game of the match but Hewitt served out to take one of the most one-sided sets of tennis 6-1.

It looked like being at least a mercifully short ordeal for Henman when he went 0-40 down on his serve in the first game of the second set, but the 29-year-old dug deep to edge in front for the first time in the match.

The fifth seed saved two more in the fifth game but Hewitt eventually found a way through to break for what proved a decisive lead.