Wednesday, 4 September, 2002, 18:59 GMT 19:59 UK
BBC Gamewatch: Hewitt v El
Aynaoui
All the action from Flushing Meadows as top seed Lleyton Hewitt beats Morocco's
Younes El Aynaoui for a place in the semi-finals.
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Hewitt 6-1 7-6 4-6 6-2 El Aynaoui
This time there is no mistake from Hewitt and El Aynaoui helps him out with a
couple of wild backhands to end the match.
Hewitt 6-1 7-6 4-6 5-2 El Aynaoui
The match looks all but over as Hewitt secures a second break in the set, but he
again relies on his opponent making mistakes after failing to put away several
chances.
Hewitt 6-1 7-6 4-6 4-2 El Aynaoui
Hewitt is relieved to put away a high backhand volley on game point after
missing an easier chance earlier in the point.
Hewitt 6-1 7-6 4-6 3-2 El Aynaoui
Victory may be in sight but Hewitt is still struggling with his game and, for
the moment, El Aynaoui is having little trouble keeping in touch.
Hewitt 6-1 7-6 4-6 3-1 El Aynaoui
The match looks to be heading the way of the Australian after a more convincing
service game, and El Aynaoui needs to find some inspiration.
Hewitt 6-1 7-6 4-6 2-1 El Aynaoui
El Aynaoui stays in touch with a solid game, finished off with a forehand winner
into the corner.
Hewitt 6-1 7-6 4-6 2-0 El Aynaoui
It's hardly convincing stuff from Hewitt but he comes through another deuce game
on serve to consolidate the break.
Hewitt 6-1 7-6 4-6 1-0 El Aynaoui
A scrappy game comes to a dramatic end as Hewitt comes up with the shot of the
match to break - hurtling towards the net to pick up a brilliant drop volley and
lobbing El Aynaoui.
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Hewitt 6-1 7-6 4-6 El Aynaoui
The first break of the set brings El Aynaoui unexpectedly back into the match,
with Hewitt ending another poor game on a double fault.
Hewitt 6-1 7-6 4-5 El Aynaoui
Despite being in a commanding position Hewitt is getting increasingly frustrated
and El Aynaoui sends down a couple of aces on his way to taking the game.
Hewitt 6-1 7-6 4-4 El Aynaoui
As in the second set Hewitt comes up with one poor game, making three errors to
go down 0-40 before picking up the pace dramatically to reel off five straight
points.
Hewitt 6-1 7-6 3-4 El Aynaoui
More good serving from El Aynaoui keeps the set on course for another tie-break
as neither player looks capable of raising their level at the moment.
Hewitt 6-1 7-6 3-3 El Aynaoui
A wonderful backhand lob from El Aynaoui takes the game to deuce but Hewitt
serves out with no further problems.
Hewitt 6-1 7-6 2-3 El Aynaoui
El Aynaoui is not giving up without a fight and it is getting on Hewitt's
nerves, provoking an unusual amount of errors from the Australian.
Hewitt 6-1 7-6 2-2 El Aynaoui
A fierce forehand from the mid-court gives Hewitt the game, but he looks annoyed
as he fails to dominate completely as in the first set.
Hewitt 6-1 7-6 1-2 El Aynaoui
The best game of the match from El Aynaoui is over in under two minutes and both
players look keen to get to the heart of the set.
Hewitt 6-1 7-6 1-1 El Aynaoui
Hewitt levels with a comfortable game and El Aynaoui fails to threaten on the
return.
Hewitt 6-1 7-6 0-1 El Aynaoui
After such a disappointing end to the second set El Aynaoui does well to hold
serve as the third begins.
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Hewitt 6-1 7-6 El Aynaoui
El Aynaoui dominates the tie-break with his forehand and gets to set point at
6-5, at which point he comes up with two woeful backhands that allow Hewitt to
steal the set with a magnificent pass.
Hewitt 6-1 6-6 El Aynaoui
The match looks to be slipping away from El Aynaoui when he twice faces set
points, but the Moroccan holds his nerve to force the tie-break.
Hewitt 6-1 6-5 El Aynaoui
The confidence returns to Hewitt and he is all over the court again on his way
to taking the game with a solid overhead.
Hewitt 6-1 5-5 El Aynaoui
Hewitt opens with a stunning lob and the nerves get to El Aynaoui, who throws in
a double fault and an appalling forehand on his way to dropping serve -
provoking the first "C'mon!" of the day from the Australian.
Hewitt 6-1 4-5 El Aynaoui
No problems for Hewitt as he gets back to his earlier form on serve, and the
pressure is back on El Aynaoui.
Hewitt 6-1 3-5 El Aynaoui
The Moroccan supporters make themselves heard as El Aynaoui comes through a
tight game to win to 30, and Hewitt must serve to stay in the set.
Hewitt 6-1 3-4 El Aynaoui
Out of nowhere El Aynaoui is back in the match as Hewitt throws in a disastrous
game, following up a double fault with a terrible volley to drop serve.
Hewitt 6-1 3-3 El Aynaoui
A much more confident game from El Aynaoui, who mixes up his game with a variety
of angles to keep Hewitt on the move.
Hewitt 6-1 3-2 El Aynaoui
A straightforward game takes Hewitt back in front and he produces a couple of
volleys to keep El Aynaoui guessing.
Hewitt 6-1 2-2 El Aynaoui
El Aynaoui finds the corners with a couple of groundstrokes that he had been
missing earlier and he looks ready to make a game of it.
Hewitt 6-1 2-1 El Aynaoui
El Aynaoui forces two break points but a big serve and a crosscourt forehand
save Hewitt, who serves out the game.
Hewitt 6-1 1-1 El Aynaoui
The Moroccan stops the rot with his second game of the match as Hewitt looks to
take a breather.
Hewitt 6-1 1-0 El Aynaoui
The closest to a crisis for Hewitt when he goes 15-30 down, but three big serves
get him out of trouble.
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Hewitt 6-1 El Aynaoui
The first set is over in just 25 minutes as Hewitt forces more errors from El
Aynaoui - he makes 12 compared to Hewitt's one in the set.
Hewitt 5-1 El Aynaoui
Hewitt is in no mood to hang about and races through the sixth game with two
aces.
Hewitt 4-1 El Aynaoui
20th seed El Aynaoui makes several extravagant winners but even more unforced
errors as Hewitt keeps him moving all over the court - and it's another break
for the world number one.
Hewitt 3-1 El Aynaoui
A love game takes Hewitt two games clear and the Australian's underrated serve
is already causing El Aynaoui problems.
Hewitt 2-1 El Aynaoui
The third game ends in controversy as umpire Egli calls El Aynaoui for touching
the net on break point, and Hewitt gets the break.
Hewitt 1-1 El Aynaoui
The top seed levels comfortably, although the rallies are already long and it
could be a war of attrition.
Hewitt 0-1 El Aynaoui
El Aynaoui takes the first game to 30 with an ace, after Hewitt poses some
problems with a winning pass and a surprise rush to the net.
It's Hewitt v Agassi
www.news.com.au
September 05, 2002
LLEYTON HEWITT set up a US Open semi-final meeting with Andre Agassi after
a scrappy 6-1 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 6-2 win over Moroccan 20th seed Younes El
Aynaoui.
Hewitt took the first set 6-1 in 26 minutes without losing a point on his
serve but then struggled to put the tall Moroccan away over the next two
hours.
El Aynaoui, who had strong support from the meagre crowd which gathered in
the cavernous Arthur Ashe stadium on a sunny afternoon, took Hewitt to a
tiebreak in the second set and then won the third before the Australian
eventually triumphed 6-1 7-6 (8-6) 4-6 6-2 in 2hrs 40mins.
Hewitt made 42 unforced errors in the match, but he said the swirling wind
in the stadium made conditions difficult.
"It felt like I was serving into a hurricane sometimes," the world
No.1
said.
Later, Andre Agassi defeated Belarussian Max Mirnyi 6-7 6-3 7-5 6-3 to
reach his eighth US Open semi.
It was journey into the last four that required all the 32-year-old's wit,
guile and brute force against a 6 ft 5 ins serving machine who eventually
ran out of rockets.
"He's a big guy who can use his size and force you to do something special
on every point," the sixth seed said after a two-hour 51-minute battle.
"It was a high standard match from start to finish ... but once we were a
set all I felt I raised it from there."
Hewitt is 4-2 against Agassi, having won four in a row, and 1-1 against
Mirnyi, who knocked the Australian out of the Sydney Olympics.
Not since Pete Sampras in 1995 has a man won Wimbledon and the US Open back
to back but Hewitt could turn the trick.
Hewitt broke El Aynaoui in the first game of the fourth set on a
controversial point.
The Aussie ran to the net to play a drop volley and barely got his racket
under the ball for a lob that landed beyond the African for a winner.
But Hewitt lost his balance and skidded feet-first toward the net, barely
touching the barrier with his right foot. His body blocked the umpire's
view and the point stood.
Hewitt broke again in the seventh game as El Aynaoui tired and then held
serve to take the match as the African sent a backhand beyond the baseline
after two hours and 40 minutes.
After rolling through the first set, Hewitt had to fight back in the
second.
He broke back to force a tiebreaker, then fell behind 3-0 and 5-2 before
taking six of the last seven points in the session.
The Moroccan hit a forehand long to pull Hewitt level at 5-5, but the
Aussie netted a backhand on a ball off a net cord and went down a set
point.
But El Aynaoui sent a pair of backhands long and Hewitt followed by zipping
a backhand cross-court winner to claim the second set.
Hewitt handed El Aynaoui the third set, surrendering the break in the final
game with a double fault after punching a backhand long.
AAP
- - -
Ground Zero leaves Hewitt 'empty'
www.news.com.au
September 05, 2002
LLEYTON HEWITT says visiting Ground Zero left him feeling empty.
Hewitt, 21, has played at the US Open every year since 1999 but never
visited the World Trade Centre before it was levelled in a terrorist attack
last year, two days after he won his first Grand Slam.
Hewitt says New York changed his life last year and, although he's not much
of a sightseer, he made a special visit to the scene of the atrocity where
2819 victims and 10 hijackers died.
While the huge site where the twin towers used to stand is now largely
cleared and looks like a construction zone, pictures and memorials to the
dead line the fence around a nearby church, while entrepreneurs sell soft
drinks, T-shirts and souvenirs to tourists.
"It was interesting, but it was weird," Hewitt said, his voice
trailing
off.
"I had never been in the World Trade Centre before, so I didn't really know
what it looked like.
"But it was just a huge space left empty. It sort of leaves you with an
empty feeling when you walk away from the place."
It's the only sightseeing Hewitt is likely to do between now and Saturday's
US Open semi-final.
Although he has two days off in one of the world's busiest cities, Hewitt
admits he's in for a pretty boring couple of days.
"I'll sit in my room most of the time. I'll be here at the courts, not
doing a lot for a couple of hours. But I don't want to hang around the
courts all day. Just lucky it takes half-an-hour, 45 minutes to go to the
hotel."
AAP
- - -
Hewitt into last four
Wednesday, 4 September, 2002
www.bbc.co.uk
Top seed Lleyton Hewitt reached the semi-finals of the US Open for the
third straight year with an unconvincing win over Morocco's Younes El
Aynaoui.
The Australian won 6-1 7-6 4-6 6-2 to set up a meeting with Andre Agassi,
providing the American beats Max Mirnyi later on Wednesday.
Despite the victory it was a strange performance from Hewitt, who grew more
frustrated and played worse as the game progressed.
The main reason for that was the steady improvement from 20th seed El
Aynaoui following a woeful start.
"I played great the first set and a bit," said Hewitt.
"I played one bad game on my serve. It felt like you were serving into a
hurricane sometimes.
"Once I got two sets up, I knew it would be hard for him to come
back."
Hewitt raced through the first set in 25 minutes with some of his best
tennis of the tournament.
It may have proved too easy as his concentration slipped, allowing El
Aynaoui to find some rhythm on his forehand.
The Moroccan dominated the second set but let it slip away, first when he
dropped serve at 5-4 up and then at set point in the tie-break.
Hewitt did not need a third invitation and took the set with a blistering
backhand pass before letting out a trademark shout of "C'mon!"
The defending champion might have expected to run away with the third set.
But El Aynaoui made him work hard and wasted three break points in the
eighth game, before being handed the set when Hewitt double faulted at the
crucial point in game 10.
It did not signal a major comeback as Hewitt broke in the next game.
But the Australian still struggled through the next seven games, and he
looked a relieved man when an El Aynaoui error brought victory.
After the match Hewitt insisted he is in good enough form to retain his
title.
"I'm playing well," said Hewitt. "I've played a lot of hard
matches under
pressure - that gives me a lot of confidence."
Hewitt rips up Czech
www.news.com.au
September 03, 2002
WORLD No.1 Lleyton Hewitt advanced into the quarter-finals of the US Open today,
racking up his 51st win of the year with a straight sets victory over 14th seed
Jiri Novak.
The defending champion waited almost three hours to get on court in a
rain-affected day - then took only one hour 43 minutes to beat the Czech 6-4 6-2
7-5.
Hewitt lost his serve only once - when he was serving for the match at 5-4 in
the third set.
But he broke straight back and won on his next service game.
It was the fourth time the pair had played and the fourth time Hewitt won, the
Australian serving up 19 aces - four of them in a single game - to record an
easy win.
It took just 14 minutes for Hewitt to utter his first "C'mon!" of the
fourth round match when he broke in the fifth game.
But the call did not signal a return to the fist-pumps and cries of "C'mon
Rock" that disappeared when he played American James Blake in the previous
match, as Hewitt was again a model of sportsmanship.
He will play either Moroccan Younes El Aynaoui or South African veteran Wayne
Ferreira in the quarter-finals on Wednesday.