Ailing Hewitt falls at first hurdle March 21

KEY BISCAYNE, Florida (AFP) - Suffering from an upset stomach, world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt was upset 6-4, 6-4 by qualifier Francisco Clavet of Spain in the second round at the 6/2 million-dollar hardcourt tournament here.
"I got sick last night," Hewitt said. "I had room service. I was sick as a dog all night. I was still feeling sick (today), and it got worse as the match went on."
Hewitt, who won the first Masters Series event of the year at Indian Wells last week, never looked himself on the court Friday night.
On two occasions - on changeovers after the third and fifth games of the second set - ATP trainer Doug Spreen was on court tending to Hewitt.
Despite the fact the match was taking place on hard courts, the No. 178 ranked Clavet played his normal brand of clay court tennis, manipulating Hewitt into longer points than he'd prefer to play.
"He played as well as he could," Hewitt said. "I still feel like it was more because I couldn't go out there and play my game that I wanted to play. He mixed the ball up well and he went out here and gave everything he had."
Clavet is the fourth lowest ranked player to beat a world No. 1 since 1973.
Clavet was leading 6-4, 3-1 when Hewitt made a stab at pushing the match into a third set.
Although the Australian broke Clavet's serve in the sixth and eighth games, he never was able to establish a lead in the set.
Serving at 3-3 in the seventh game, Hewitt had a 40-0 lead in the game but eventually squandered all five game points he had to try an go ahead 4-3 in the second set.
Clavet, who is scheduled to retire from the tour in August, won the match on a second match point in the final game when a Hewitt forehand return hit the top of the net and dropped back on his side of the court.

Spanish Imposition: Clavet Shocks Hewitt In Nasdaq-100 Open

By Richard Pagliaro
03/22/2003
Tennis Week

The blue towel loaded with ice and smelling salts was draped over Lleyton Hewitt's head as he sat slumped in his court-side seat. Drained by a queasy stomach and fatigued from playing 15 matches in little more than two weeks, Hewitt spent most of the night searching for the right remedy for the problem that plagued him on the court in the form of Francisco Clavet.

The top-ranked Hewitt started the match with an upset stomach and ended it as an upset victim as Clavet scored a stunning, 6-4, 6-4 triumph tonight at the Nasdaq-100 Open.

"As soon as I started running I started feeling it the most," said Hewitt of the upset stomach he believes was caused by a meal he ate at his Miami hotel. "When he (the ATP trainer) gave me something to drink, it sort of settled me down for a couple of games, but then it came back again."

The 34-year-old Spaniard's best days may be behind him, but tonight Clavet created a night to remember. As the oldest man in the main draw, Clavet plans to retire at the end of the season, but he refused to relinquish his hold on the match.

It was only the second loss of the season for Hewitt, who entered the encounter undefeated on American hard courts this season. Hewitt had swept successive tournament titles in Scottsdale and Indian Wells and looked downright dominant in dismissing Gustavo Kuerten, 6-1, 6-1, in Sunday's Pacific Life Open final to raise his record to 15-1 on the season.

In contrast, Clavet played through qualifying to reach the tournament main draw and beat Vladimir Voltchkov in the opening round of the event to earn his first ATP main draw win of the season.

A lethargic-looking Hewitt found himself facing a 1-4 deficit in the first set. He staged a brief rally, but Hewitt's inside-out forehand consistently sat up in the hitting zone for the left-handed Clavet to drive his own forehand deep into the corners of the court. Clavet served out the first set then immediately broke to take a 1-0 lead in the second.

Taking a page from compatriot Carlos Moya's successful game plan against Hewitt, Clavet frequently sent slow slice backhands that forced Hewitt to hit up on the ball and sometimes created short shots for Clavet to fire away with his favored forehand.

The patient play of the 1999 tournament semifinalist forced an increasingly desperate Hewitt to try low-percentage drop shots or attempt to hit winners off his own forehand, which frequently fell into the net. Hewitt staged a brief rally by breaking serve to even the second set at 4-4, but even the fiery, fist-pumping Australian admitted he didn't feel he had seized the momentum.

"I don't think I was playing well, I think he was tightening up more than anything," Hewitt said. "He made the shots when he had to. There really wasn't much I could do out there tonight."