Hewitt roasted by toast of Thailand
By Stephen Lunn and agencies
October 05, 2002

THE courtside photographers are always a dead giveaway. As Lleyton Hewitt's Japan Open quarter-final against Thailand's Paradorn Srichaphan began yesterday in Tokyo, the massive telephoto lenses were trained fairly and squarely at the world No. 1.

By early in the second set, as an upset brewed, they were evenly dividing their attention, and a few games later they were all clicking away at the rising Thai star.

Srichaphan's 6-4 6-3 win over Hewitt, the defending champion, was thoroughly deserved. His serve was bigger and groundstrokes more penetrating than Hewitt's, who looked a touch flat on the day after a hard-fought three-set win over Chile's Nicolas Massu.

"He played well. I didn't play my best tennis. I just didn't feel fresh from the start and it showed," Hewitt said after the match.

But Hewitt wasn't taking anything away from his 23-year-old opponent, whom he had beaten in their three previous encounters. In one of those matches Srichaphan, who is ranked No. 31, had match points against Hewitt; yesterday he went one better. "He plays a powerful, solid game that has upset a few of the big guys this year," Hewitt said.

Hewitt was coming back from a couple of weeks away from the tour. This was his first tour event since the US Open in early September, although he played Davis Cup for Australia against India a couple of weeks ago.

He said he was disappointed to bow out in the quarters. "I needed a few matches under my belt to get some match hardness back," he said. He described his form in this tournament as patchy.

Srichaphan said he took a "nothing to lose" attitude on to the court, and it paid off. "I told myself to keep going for my shots no matter what happened during the match," he said.

Early on in yesterday's match, Hewitt sprayed his groundstrokes, particularly his backhand, while Srichaphan came up with some big serves to jump out to a 3-0 lead.

In the seventh game, Hewitt broke back, brilliantly running down an attempted drop shot and flicking his pass cross-court. A point later he was back on equal terms.

At 4-5 and 30-all, Hewitt advanced behind a deep forehand ready to close out the point with a volley. Srichaphan's attempted pass looked easy pickings, but it clipped the top of the net and looped over the 21-year-old's head, falling in safely. The one set point was all Srichaphan needed.

In the second set Hewitt fought gamely. He faced four break points in the sixth game, pulling out two aces. It wasn't enough. Four points later Srichaphan rocketed a forehand down the line past an advancing Hewitt to go up the vital break.

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Thai sensation Paradorn upsets Hewitt in Japan Open
2002-10-04 06:12 (New York)

TOKYO, Oct 4 (AFP) - Thai sensation Paradorn Srichaphan, conqueror of Andre Agassi at Wimbledon, added world number one Lleyton Hewitt of Australia to his list of scalps with a straight sets win in the quarter-finals of the Japan Open here Friday.


"It's going to be big, big news again (in Thailand)," Paradorn said after his 6-4, 6-3 defeat of Hewitt, the reigning Wimbledon champion and Japan Open title-holder.

"It could be the biggest -- bigger than when I beat Agassi at Wimbledon -- because he's number one in the world," said the 23-year-old rising Thai star.

Paradorn, seeded eighth here, needed just 63 minutes to send Hewitt crashing out of the 800,000-dollar ATP tournament and set up a semi-final on Saturday against Kenneth Carlsen of Denmark, who beat Anthony Dupuis of France 6-3, 6-2.

Paradorn, who has jumped from 126th to 31st in the ATP Tour Champions Race since the start of the year, had lost all three of his previous matches with Hewitt.

"The last two times it was a close match, but I was a little bit shaky on important points," Paradorn said. "The past two matches I played him gave me a lot of experience about how I can finish it."

Hewitt came back from 1-4 down in the first set to tie it at 4-4. But Paradorn hit a couple of backhand winners, one on a net-cord, to break Hewitt for a 5-4 lead. He took the set with a backhand volley winner.

Paradorn broke Hewitt in the sixth game of the second set with a forehand winner and served out the match with an ace, his ninth of the day.

"When I broke him at 4-2, I knew that if I can keep my serve and try not to be nervous I'll be able to finish this off," said Paradorn.

Hewitt noted after the match that Paradorn had already notched up a number of good results this year. Paradorn won his first ATP title at Long Island in August and upset Agassi in the second round at Wimbledon.

"He played well," said Hewitt. "I didn't feel like I played my best tennis, I just didn't feel fresh out there after the start.

"He's played a perfect, solid game that caused a few upsets against some of the big guys this year."

Paradorn said he feels as if he's representing all of Asia, not only Thailand, when he steps on the court.

"I feel really proud that I'm the Asian number one right now on the men's side," he said. "I don't feel I'm just representing Thailand, I feel that I'm representing all Asian countries.

"Whereever I play, in Europe or in the United States, I feel like I play for Asia. It feels great, it feels like I'm doing it for Asian people."

Thailand's Paradorn shocks Hewitt in Japan
By George Nishiyama

TOKYO (Reuters) - Thailand's Paradorn Srichaphan has overwhelmed world number one Lleyton Hewitt 6-4 6-3, knocking the Australian out of the $800,000 Japan Open in the quarter-finals.

Swedish qualifier Magnus Norman also advanced to the last four, winning his sixth match in seven days by downing compatriot Magnus Larsson 7-6 (7-5) 7-5.

Eighth seed Paradorn pummelled the Wimbledon champion with aces and a stream of baseline winners and Hewitt lacked his usual precision and committed numerous unforced errors.

"He played well, but I didn't play my best tennis...I didn't feel fresh from the start," Hewitt said. "It was his powerful play that has caused some upsets for big guys this year."

The 23-year-old Thai made headlines at this year's Wimbledon by beating Andre Agassi in the second round.

Paradorn, ranked 31 in the world, said all he did was concentrate on his own game.

"I have nothing to lose, he is number one in the world. I just kept on telling myself that win or lose, I'm just going to play my game and play well.

"I learned a lot from the last two times (I played him). Like how to play when the situation is close, like when I have a break point," Paradorn said.

In their February meeting in San Jose, Paradorn held four match points before losing to the Australian.

Hewitt's surprise exit leaves Paradorn as the sole seeded player in the draw.

"If I keep on playing the way I did today, I have a good chance to reach the final or win the tournament," he said.

Chilean stretches Hewitt
By Stephen Lunn, Tokyo Correspondent, The Australian
October 04, 2002

AT one set apiece, 4-2 up and holding a break point on Chilean Nicolas Massu's serve, Lleyton Hewitt yesterday started his own commentary.

"Big point. Big point," the world No. 1 barked before promptly netting the return.

The commentary was evidence that Hewitt was in a tight one. The third round Japan Open match had already gone nearly three hours, the first set won by Massu in a tiebreaker and the second by Hewitt 6-2.

Two points later Hewitt thought he had that vital point for 5-2 in the third set again but an overrule on an out call by the central umpire thwarted the Australian, the defending champion in Tokyo.

Finally after seven deuces, the 14th seed Massu netted an overhead to give Hewitt break point, and the 21-year-old seized his chance.

Surely that was the end of the plucky resistance from Massu. But no, despite nursing a cramping thigh muscle for the last set and a half, he broke Hewitt for 5-3.

Finally a relieved Hewitt held serve to take the match 6-7 6-2 6-4 and move into today's quarter-finals, where he will play Japan's Takao Suzuki, who knocked out Thailand's eighth seed Paradorn Srichaphan. [sic oops - actually Srichaphan defeated Suzuki]

"I knew it was going to be a tough match when I went out there. He's come through some hard matches to get here," Hewitt said after the match.

"I felt like I dominated the match and had a lot of chances out there. If it was a five setter it could easily have been three, two and two. I served for the first set at 5-3 and the third at 5-2."

Hewitt has never lost at the Japan Open, taking the title last year at his first attempt.

But some lethargic play led to him losing three of his first five service games.

Hewitt settled in the second, finding his range with the off forehand that had troubled him in the first set. Australia have been drawn to play their first-round Davis Cup tie next February at home against Britain.

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Hewitt beats Massu to reach Japan Open quarters
2002-10-03 08:50 (New York)

TOKYO, Oct 3 (AFP) - World number one Lleyton Hewitt had to work hard Thursday to overcome a bold challenge from Nicolas Massu and take his place in the quarter-finals of the Japan Open tennis tournament.

The Australian defending champion faced an array of powerful shots from the Chilean 14th seed and lost the first set tie-breaker.
But in the next two sets Hewitt's deadly accurate strokemaking forced Massu into errors which ensured a 6-7 (4/7), 6-2, 6-4 victory for the Wimbledon champion.

Other seeds -- Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero, Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina, American James Blake and Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia -- all fell victim to underdogs.

Second seed Ferrero crashed to 2000 French Open finalist Magnus Norman of Sweden 3-6, 3-6, while Blake, last year's runner-up here, went down to Martin Verkerk of the Netherlands 3-6, 6-3, 3-6.

Kenneth Carlsen of Denmark eliminated 11th seed Hrbaty 6-4, 6-4 in the second round and went on to beat fifth seed Chela in a marathon 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/3) victory.

Hewitt said his section of the draw "is as tough as it can be".

"It's a little bit like Wimbledon."

The 21-year-old from Adelaide got off to a comfortable start, breaking Massu in the opening game, thanks to two double faults by the Chilean at deuce.

The two players exchanged breaks twice before going into the tie-breaker, in which Massu shot away to a 3-0 lead and hung on to win the set.

Massu's fierce forehand gave him the advantage in the first set but Hewitt grabbed control in the remainder of the two hour 58 minute match with precision strokemaking which forced the Chilean into a series of errors.

"Obviously he played a couple of tough matches in the last three days and I knew it was going to be extremely tough match as he plays well, especially with the conditions out there, a little bit heavier tonight," said Hewitt.

"But when I went out there, I lived up to their expectations, I guess."

Thursday October 3, 2002 12:58 AM AEST
Hewitt demolishes Chang at Japan Open
AFP

World number one Lleyton Hewitt showed no mercy as he put an end to crowd favourite Michael Chang's final appearance in Tokyo with a ruthless victory at the Japan Open tennis tournament on Wednesday.

The 21-year-old from Adelaide hit only two aces against Chang's five, but stood firm on his serve and never faced a single break point against him throughout the 57-minute match for a 6-2, 6-2 win.

Fellow Aussie Wayne Arthurs was knocked out in his second round match, going down 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (8-6) to Anthony Dupuis of France.

Hewitt, the top seed, became the first player to reach the men's singles third round after receiving a first-round bye.

His Spanish rivals, third seed Carlos Moya and fourth seed Alex Corretja, were dumped out by unseeded opponents while seventh seed Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador, the finalist here two years ago, went down to Swedish qualifier Magnus Larsson 5-7, 2-6.

"I felt like it was going to be a tough match playing Michael, especially in this part of the world where he has so much success over such a long period," said Hewitt, the current Wimbledon champion.

"So for me, it's a tough draw to come in, I have a bye, he's already a match under his belt here, but I felt like I got better and better as the match went on and I played pretty well in the end."

Chang, the youngest-ever French Open champion at 17 years old in 1989, played aggressively, hitting occasional service return winners while charging to the net on Hewitt's second serve.

But the American was never able to threaten Hewitt, winning only two points at most in the Australian's service game.

Chang, the former world number two who has won 12 out of his 34 titles in Asia including two in Japan, said Monday that this would be his final tournament in Japan as he indicated he is to hang up his racquet some time next year.

Regarding Chang's last match here, Hewitt said: "Michael has had a wonderful career. The last three months I think he played some of (the) best tennis he's played for years.

"He was very unlucky not to get to number one in the world at some stage. I guess it's a tough decision for him to make, when is the right time to go out."

Chang was heartened by a win in the doubles with his partner Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia but lamented his performance in the singles.

"I played a very good doubles match today," said Chang, now 30, after winning the first round later in the day.

"I wish I could have played a little bit better in the singles. I feel like I missed some shots I don't normally miss, but I felt Lleyton served very well today and didn't give me a lot of opportunities to break him."

"I just felt like I wasn't able to hit a kind of shots that I wanted to hit and times I did have the opportunites, I missed some shots. I just wasn't able to play the kind of match that I wanted to play."

Moya, losing finalist in the Hong Kong Open on Sunday, crashed to a 4-6, 5-7 defeat to Alexander Waske of Germany, and Corretja bowed to Karol Kucera of Slovakia 6-3, 3-6, 6-7 (3/7).

In the women's tournament, Australian Alicia Molik beat Vanessa Webb of Canada 6-0, 7-5.

Evie Dominkovic was knocked out by American Sarah Taylor, 6-2, 6-2