Final articles 2002 - thanks Robyn

after the final

wimbledon.org
Hewitt Cruises to Men's Title
Barry Newcombe

Sunday, July 7, 2002


Lleyton Hewitt, the 21-year-old Australian, claimed the Wimbledon title in straight sets on the Centre Court this afternoon with victory over the surprise finalist, 20-year-old David Nalbandian of Argentina, 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 in one hour and 57 minutes.

Hewitt confirmed his world number one ranking as he took the title for the first time in his first Wimbledon final against another debutant who was playing both at Wimbledon and on the Centre Court for the first time.

Nalbandian, seeded 28th, started badly to trail 4-0 but began to pick up more points and then games as he became accustomed to the demands of the final. The match was dominated by Hewitt's pinpoint accuracy on either flank, his certainty when he made his occasional attacks at the net and, above all, by the unshakeable belief that this was going to be his day.

Hewitt, in his fourth Wimbledon, is the first Australian to win since Pat Cash in 1987 and brings the total of Gentlemen's Singles titles won by Australians at The Championships to 21. Like Cash, Hewitt clambered across the crowd to greet his friends and family after winning his second Grand Slam (he was US Open champion last September).

At the start, Hewitt won the toss and chose to receive on a cloudy and cool afternoon with some light breezes blowing around the court. Nalbandian started uncertainly with a double fault and out of the next four points hit two service winners and two errors as Hewitt broke serve.

Hewitt held serve easily and broke Nalbandian again in the third game but this time the Argentine saved two break points before being beaten on the third by a backhand pass.

Hewitt held to love with an ace to lead 4-0 and then, to the delight of the crowd, Nalbandian won a game after saving two break points. He had two chances to take Hewitt's serve in the next game but the Australian held on for 5-1 with a smash.

The pressure swung on to Nalbandian again and a volley from Hewitt and two errors by Nalbandian put him three set points down. Nalbandian saved with a diving backhand volley and then double faulted to lose the set 6-1 after 32 minutes.

In the second set , Hewitt held serve from break point down to lead 1-0 and then the players left the court because of a light shower. When they returned, a male streaker ran on to the court and held up the resumption briefly before he was caught by security staff and led away.

Hewitt broke for 2-0 on his fourth break point but the court erupted after the next game when Nalbandian broke Hewitt for the first time. Hewitt saved a first break point but the second went to Nalbandian after a high speed rally that ended with the Argentine hitting a backhand volley winner. Nalbandian held serve for 2-2.

Hewitt held serve to lead 3-2 after one hour and Nalbandian held for 3-3. With Hewitt serving at 30-30, play was suspended because of rain.

The match resumed after a delay of 32 minutes and Hewitt held for 4-3. Hewitt next broke for 5-3, shouting encouragement to himself twice with the phrase "Come on" echoing around the court.

The Australian increased his lead to two sets to love, clinching the second set 6-3. Hewitt was 0-30 down and then won four points running for the set after one hour and 16 minutes.

To start the third set, Nalbandian saved a break point and held for 1-0. Hewitt then held after saving two break points and took Nalbandian's serve on a second break point with a backhand winner to lead 2-1. But Hewitt could not reinforce his break and lost serve for 2-2.

The first point won by Hewitt in the fifth game was one of the best of the final. He was pulled out wide by a drive from Nalbandian but not only managed to reach the ball but to return it cross court and close to the net for a winner.

Hewitt broke again for 3-2 but on break point Nalbandian appeared to stop playing when he believed a baseline shot was out. But the shot stood. It was cruel for Nalbandian but his rival had a lead once more.

Hewitt, with the end now in sight, held serve to love for the first time since the fourth game of the first set, and he was up 4-2. Nalbandian hit his sixth and seventh double faults as the next game fell into Hewitt's hands, leaving the Australian to serve for the match at 5-2.

Hewitt started with a service winner to 15-0. Then a smash took the score to 30-0. Next Nalbandian hit a forehand out to give match point to Hewitt. A double fault followed, 40-15. Then Nalbandian hit his forehand long. And a new Champion was born.

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BBC
Sunday, 7 July, 2002, 15:55 GMT 16:55 UK
Awesome Hewitt wins Wimbledon

Lleyton Hewitt beat David Nalbandian
6-1 6-3 6-2


Lleyton Hewitt thrashed David Nalbandian to claim his first Wimbledon title and emphatically underscore his status as the new dominant force in men's tennis.

The 21-year-old Australian swept aside the unheralded Argentine in one of the most one-sided finals in Wimbledon history.

Victory gave Hewitt his second Grand Slam title, following last September's win at the US Open.

Pete Sampras was the man Hewitt took apart on that day, and the 21-year-old Australian seems set to dominate the world game just like Sampras did in the 1990s.

Hewitt's victory was not achieved with the natural grasscourt style of Sampras but instead with fast feet and baseline power more reminiscent of Andre Agassi, the last man to win Wimbledon from the back of the court 10 years ago.

Nalbandian, the first Wimbledon debutant in the Open era to get through to the final, had never even played on Centre Court before.

Because of that he was allowed to practice in the famous arena before the match but that was not enough to prevent a double fault on his very first point.

Hewitt went on to break his opponent in that opening encounter and that set the tone as the Australian took the first set 6-1.

The top seed had dropped just two sets in the whole of the tournament and so, having lost the first, Nalbandian knew he was facing a near impossible task.

Early in the second set the match saw its first rain delay which was only around 12 minutes - although that was enough time for a male streaker to expose Wimbledon's security once again by dancing around Centre Court.

Once he was removed attention switched back to the naked ambition of Hewitt to become the first Australian to win Wimbledon since Pat Cash in 1987.

The world number one broke Nalbandian straight away to lead 2-0 - and although his opponent immediately broke back a second rain delay interrupted the Argentine's momentum.

When the players returned there was another break by Hewitt, which gave him the chance to serve out for the second set.

The players swapped breaks early in the third set but then a third break went Hewitt's way - thanks in part to an overrule which Nalbandian disputed heavily even though replays showed the umpire was correct.

That gave the Australian a 3-2 lead and when he held for 4-2 the crown was within touching distance.

Another break left Hewitt serving for the title and, after a nervous double fault at championship point, he held to 15.

As he fell to his knees on the famous grass of Centre Court a new era in men's tennis had truly begun.

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BBC
Sunday, 7 July, 2002, 12:42 GMT 13:42 UK
Gamewatch: Hewitt v Nalbandian


All the action from Centre Court as Lleyton Hewitt shrugs off rain delays, a streaker and David Nalbandian to become Wimbledon champion.


Hewitt 6-1 6-3 6-2 Nalbandian
Hewitt falls to the floor after serving out to win his first Wimbledon title. The Australian is a deserving champion on the grass and there is no telling how many more Grand Slam titles he will win.

Hewitt 6-1 6-3 5-2 Nalbandian
Two double faults spell the end for Nalbandian. He has done marvellously well to reach the Wimbledon final but has wilted in the face of Hewitt's considerable challenge.

Hewitt 6-1 6-3 4-2 Nalbandian
Hewitt's serve has looked largely impressive and it consolidates his advantage.

Hewitt 6-1 6-3 3-2 Nalbandian
Boos from the crowd greet Hewitt's latest break as Nalbandian protests a tight line call with umpire Mike Morrisey.

Hewitt 6-1 6-3 2-2 Nalbandian
Hewitt shows signs of tightness with victory looming and surrenders his serve to Nalbandian after a long rally.

Hewitt 6-1 6-3 2-1 Nalbandian
The sun makes an unexpected visit to Centre Court and momentarily puts Nalbandian off his service game. Hewitt earns a break point and takes it spectacularly with a drilled backhand winner.

Hewitt 6-1 6-3 1-1 Nalbandian
Despite being recognised for his supreme backcourt game, Hewitt is coming up with a serve-and-volley game when it matters. The Australian fends off break point and crashes home a smash to hold.

Hewitt 6-1 6-3 0-1 Nalbandian
Nalbandian is playing well below the ability he has shown in reaching his first Grand Slam final, but he hangs on to hold his opening service game of the third set.


Second set:

Hewitt 6-1 6-3 Nalbandian
The world number one falls behind in his service game but fights back and wins the second set with an ace. He is now just one set from winning his first Wimbledon title and looks unstoppable.

Hewitt 6-1 5-3 Nalbandian
Hewitt is pumped up and he breaks Nalbandian to put himself within sight of a two-set lead.

Hewitt 6-1 4-3 Nalbandian
Hewitt shows characteristic composure to hold serve and edges ahead in the second set.

Hewitt 6-1 3-3 (resumption) Nalbandian
The players are back on court again and will resume at 3-3 and 30-30 on Lleyton Hewitt's serve.

Fans are not anticipating a long delay and spirits on the newly-named "Hewitt Hill" are very high. Hundreds of Australians have assembled where British tennis fans usually cheer Tim Henman, to watch their hero on a giant screen.
Hewitt 6-1 3-3 (rain delay) Nalbandian
Nalbandian wins the best rally of the match with a bold drop shot. The Argentine is enjoying himself at last, but rain halts play again at 30-30.

Hewitt 6-1 3-3 Nalbandian
The standard of tennis is pretty high now and Nalbandian is making a match of it.

Hewitt 6-1 3-2 Nalbandian
Hewitt answers with a solid service game.

Hewitt 6-1 2-2 Nalbandian
Visibly more confident after his success in the last game, Nalbandian squares the set to the delight of his fans - among them delegates from the Argentine embassy.

Hewitt 6-1 2-1 Nalbandian
Centre Court erupts as Nalbandian secures his first break with a cheeky lob over Hewitt who is caught flat at the net.

Hewitt 6-1 2-0 Nalbandian
The assorted interruptions have done little to help Nalbandian's game. He bounces back from 0-40 but then gives another break to Hewitt.

Hewitt 6-1 1-0 (resumption) Nalbandian
The players return after a rain delay to be greeted by a tenacious streaker, who hurdles the net in his full glory before being escorted from Centre Court.

Hewitt's girlfriend Kim Clijsters averts her eyes but even those in the Royal Box have a chuckle at the surprising events before the crowd settles down to the resumption of play.

Hewitt 6-1 1-0 (rain delay) Nalbandian
Nalbandian forces break point again but then plays a series of loose shots to hand the game to Hewitt.


First set:

Hewitt 6-1 Nalbandian
Nalbandian ends the first set as he started it - with a double fault. Hewitt has used his unflappable tennis to exploit his opponent's nerves to the glee of many Australians in the crowd.

Hewitt 5-1 Nalbandian
Hewitt shows his grit to fend off the first break points on his serve and holds.

Hewitt 4-1 Nalbandian
The crowd gets behind a dispirited Nalbandian and he rallies from more break points to win his first game of the final with his first winners of the day. The Argentine has already made 12 unforced errors.

Hewitt 4-0 Nalbandian
Another easy service game for Hewitt who is closing out the first set in double-quick time.

Hewitt 3-0 Nalbandian
Nalbandian looks nervous and is being made to work hard for every point. He serves his second double fault at deuce and Hewitt pounces to break for a second time.

Hewitt 2-0 Nalbandian
No sign of nerves for Hewitt. The world number one finds his range with a couple of deep backhands and holds to 15.

Hewitt 1-0 Nalbandian
A nightmare start for Nalbandian, who double faults with his first serves of the match and is soon broken by the probing baseline shots of Hewitt.


The players step onto Centre Court to great ovation. Lleyton Hewitt wins the toss and elects to receive.

Wimbledon is faced with the rare prospect of a baseline-dominated final and is guaranteed a new men's singles champion.

Australian Hewitt starts as overwhelming favourite and he has plenty of support, with girlfriend - and tennis ace - Kim Clijsters in attendance.

"Henman Hill" has been renamed "Hewitt Hill" for the occasion, with plenty of Australians watching the big screen outside Court One.

Argentine Nalbandian had not even played in a senior tournament on grass before this year, but has an arsenal of strokes to deploy against the world number one.

Aussie rules

Hewitt wins second Grand Slam title with Wimbledon rout



WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- If there were ever any doubts about Lleyton Hewitt's status as the world's top player, there aren't any more.

The 21-year-old Australian crushed David Nalbandian in straight sets Sunday in the Wimbledon final to win his second Grand Slam title, solidify his No. 1 ranking and confirm the changing of the guard in men's tennis.

In a tournament where aging former champions Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi lost in the second round, Hewitt swept through the draw without a hitch and put on a ruthless performance Sunday to win 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 in under two hours.

The match shaped up as a mismatch: the top-seeded Hewitt against No. 28 Nalbandian, a 20-year-old Argentine playing in his first grass court tournament and his first match on Centre Court.

And a mismatch it was.

Hewitt never wavered, whipping his ground strokes with power and precision, dictating the points, making very few errors. Nalbandian couldn't cope with the occasion or Hewitt's supremacy, making countless unforced errors.

Hewitt's only show of nerves came when he served a double fault on his first match point at 5-2, 40-0. But when Nalbandian hit a shot long on the next point, Hewitt fell onto his back in exhilaration

He got back to his feet and slammed a ball into the crowd. After shaking hands with Nalbandian, Hewitt left his racket on his chair and pumped his fists above his head to the crowd.

Hewitt then climbed up through the stands to the guest box, emulating the celebrations of Pat Cash, the last Australian to win Wimbledon in 1987.

Hewitt embraced his coach Jason Stoltenberg, kissed his girlfriend Kim Clijsters and hugged his parents before returning to the court to accept the winner's trophy.

wimbledon.org
Lleyton Fulfils Lifelong Dream
Ronald Atkin

Sunday, July 7, 2002


Lleyton Hewitt became the first Australian to win the Wimbledon men's singles title for 15 years when he defeated Argentina's David Nalbandian 6-1, 6-3, 6-2.

Pat Cash, who was commentating on the match for BBC television, was the last successful Australian here, in 1987, but the final was watched from the Royal Box by two other Aussies who won Wimbledon - Frank Sedgman (1952) and Neale Fraser (1960). A third distinguished former Australian player, Ken Rosewall, was also an official guest, but the best he could achieve here was to finish runner-up on four occasions.

There was never any chance of Hewitt joining Rosewall as a beaten finalist. He dominated a nervous opponent in the opening set and then used his speed and astonishing range of strokes to hold at bay Nalbandian's counter-attack.

Because he had not played on Centre Court at all during the fortnight, Nalbandian was permitted a half-hour practice session there before the final, but it did not appear to have done the 20-year-old Argentinian much good when the finalists appeared on a grey, overcast afternoon.

However, Nalbandian's discomfort and lack of touch early on only served to get the spectators on his side, though none of them wanted to tackle the pronunciation of his surname. Instead, there were cries of "David" and one of "C'mon Big Dave". Most of the Australian support seemed to be concentrated on the slope outside the stadium, watching on the giant TV screen. Perhaps Henman Hill should have been renamed Hewitt Hill for the day.

The forecast by one Italian expert that this final between two baseliners would be "a match on green clay" was not proved true, particularly in the first set, when Nalbandian found it difficult to keep the rallies going. Having lost the first four games, Nalbandian raised the biggest cheer of the match so far by holding serve with 23 minutes played.

Having won his first Grand Slam at the US Open last September, Hewitt immediately set his sights on Wimbledon. To do so, he discarded the trappings of his teenage years, the ponytail and the back-to-front cap. The hair was cut short but there was no reining back on the zest and feisty approach. This was crystal clear as Hewitt won the first set in 33 minutes. "I wish you were British, Lleyton," yelled a lone voice from the crowd.

After one game in the second set, won by Hewitt, the players were driven off by a brief shower. On their return, before play could resume, a male streaker appeared on court, the first since a woman halted play in the 1996 final between Richard Krajicek and MaliVai Washington.

Play was again suspended, this time for 33 minutes, at 3-3 in the second set and, when the action resumed, Hewitt swept the next three games and went two sets clear, to a yell from the crowd "Come on Aussie, you're the tiger."

By this stage, Hewitt was doing plenty of shouting on his own account, pointing to his family and friends in the VIP box and pumping himself up in the fashion that has become so familiar from this all-action world number one.

In the final set, Nalbandian's resistance was no more than token and it was all over in one hour and 57 minutes. Nalbandian's total of six games was the lowest since John McEnroe defeated Jimmy Connors for the loss of four games in the 1984 final.

As Nalbandian's forehand flew beyond the baseline at match point, Hewitt fell flat on his back, arms thrust upwards. As Boris Becker, three times a champion here, pointed out: "This is the most wonderful moment in a tennis player's life, winning Wimbledon for the first time."

After offering his commiserations to Nalbandian, the Australian climbed up into the VIP box to embrace his mother and father, Glynn and Cherilyn, his girlfriend, Kim Clijsters, and his coach, Jason Stoltenberg.

Then he told the crowd, and the TV audience: "This is a real ripper. It's an unbelievable feeling. Growing up as a kid in Australia, I always hoped I would be playing for this trophy. To finally get the chance means so much to me."

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theage.com.au

Hewitt rules in straight sets
By Linda Pearce
July 8 2002


For more than a week, no player had seemed capable of denying Lleyton Hewitt his first Wimbledon title, and, indeed, nobody could. David Nalbandian has only been a tennis somebody for a matter of days, and was overwhelmed by the first Australian champion since Pat Cash in 1987, in the most one-sided final since 1984.

A baseliner has won the Wimbledon title for the first time since Andre Agassi a decade ago, and Hewitt was undeniably well suited by the slower pace of this year's courts and balls. He was also playing against a brave but unknown Argentinian contesting his first senior tournament on grass, and who was predictably outclassed.

Hewitt won the US Open 10 months ago, and has maintained his perfect record in grand slam finals, achieving in 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 fashion, and in less than two hours, what his friend and Davis Cup teammate Patrick Rafter had been unable to manage in the previous two finals, against Pete Sampras (2000) and Goran Ivanisevic.

"I kept having to look up on the scoreboard to see if it was real," said Hewitt, who thanked his family, friends and support staff. "I can't believe how well I've played these two weeks. It's an unbelievable feeling," he said, adding that he had thought nothing could top his US Open-No. 1 double of last year, "but now this. This is a real ripper."

Nalbandian said Hewitt had "played very, very good today. It was a big day for me, my first grass tournament, and I hope next year when I come here for the second time I'm going to win the final."

The 21-year-old from Adelaide accepted the winner's cheque of almost $1.5 million and the Challenge Trophy from the Duke of Kent, having thrown himself onto his back after a Nalbandian forehand sailed long on his second match point. As with Cash, Hewitt climbed into the players' box to rejoice - with coach Jason Stoltenberg, family, and girlfriend Kim Clijsters.

After holding it for 15 years, it was a baton Cash was happy to pass, believing he had held the "last Aussie" tag for far too long. "The Wimbledon championship is the most important one to win for all Australians, given the fantastic heritage we have in the tournament," Cash wrote in his Sunday newspaper column. "I like the idea of someone as gutsy as me taking over the mantle. Lleyton is as mentally tough as old nails. He just wants to win at all costs."

Nalbandian had nothing to lose, but nor did he ever look like winning. The world No. 32 perhaps tried too hard to hit Hewitt off the court, rather than staying back and rallying from the baseline. Hewitt ran absolutely everything down.

Nalbandian had been allowed to practice with his coach on centre court for about half an hour, having not had the opportunity to play a match on the famous arena and got no higher in the pecking order than court one for his semi-final against Xavier Malisse. But it did not prevent him being initially overawed.

Nalbandian started and ended the first set with nervous double faults, and was annihilated in the 33 minutes in between, losing all but one service game and pushing Hewitt in return only once. When he was not being forced into errors, he was making his own, and even the crowd groaned with sympathy and disappointment at his plight.

Hewitt looked untouchable, serving solidly, keeping an immaculate length, plucking winners from his strings when required and doing what he needed to do just when it was necessary. Yet it was almost enough to just keep the ball in play at first against the nerve-riddled Nalbandian, deserted by the composure that had served him so well in the earlier rounds.

Nalbandian appeared calmed a little by the chance offered by the rain break at 0-1 in the second set. He dropped serve immediately on resumption, but then steadied to convert his sixth break point of the match, find some rhythm at last and edge his way back into what had been a horribly one-sided contest.

Then the rain came again, at 30-30 on the Hewitt serve in the seventh game, and the favourite returned to win seven of the next eight points and reassert his authority. The third set was a contest for a time, before Hewitt comfortably closed out the match to become the 12th Australian man to win the title.

The tension had been broken as the players returned from a rain break early in the second set, when a streaker cavorted around the court, untroubled by any security response for several minutes.

Clijsters laughed; Cherilyn Hewitt, Lleyton's mother, was comically open-mouthed. It was the most unexpected sight of a day in which most of what was achieved and witnessed was glorious indeed.

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theage.com.au

Learning to love Lleyton: a fighter who hates losing
By Peter Fray
July 8 2002


Self-effacing, he is not. Nor is he sweet-tempered, witty or supremely intelligent.

But the world of tennis, and Australia in general, have started to love Lleyton Hewitt, not so much for what he is, but for what he promises to become.

If last year's US Open showed him as brattish and foul-mouthed, Wimbledon has shown the 21-year-old as a maturing, considerate and, yes, fierce, talented and gutsy sporting professional.

As his coach, former Australian Davis Cup player Jason Stoltenberg says: "He's just a fighter at heart and he doesn't like to lose. If he goes out and loses, you know he's given everything and that's a good thing."

Armed with the best wishes from sports-mad Prime Minister John Howard, Hewitt appears to be the natural successor to Pat Cash, Australia's last Wimbledon hero, 15 years ago, and his mate and mentor, the two-time runner-up, Pat Rafter.

Members of the close-knit tennis circuit say Hewitt has become more relaxed as his two-and-a-half-year relationship has developed with girlfriend Kim Clijsters, the Belgian tennis star.

Even the British press, still smarting after the loss of their poster boy, Tim Henman, yesterday praised Hewitt's talent and changed attitude.

The Sunday Times' tennis writer, Richard Evans, said: "Hewitt is getting nicer and he's getting better, which is great for the game and terrifying for his opponents."

Privately, his detractors say Hewitt has only been well behaved over the past two weeks because he has been winning. And that fist-punching and crowd-pointing, often to mates in the crowd, such as professional fan Warren "Woz" Livingstone, are the benign expressions of the raging, foul-mouthed punk just below the surface.

But others, including many of tennis' old and respected guard, are ready to forgive. Veteran US broadcaster and columnist Bud Collins told The Age: "He's matured, he's maturing a lot. I think everybody deserves a second chance. He's great for the game. He's a wonderful player. It's going to take something to dislodge him."

For his legion of fans, led by Mr Livingstone, Hewitt can do no wrong.

When the tennis ace pumps his fist to his chest and points to the crowd after a big point, it is often to Mr Livingstone and his crew, the Fanatics. It's a signal developed during Davis Cup campaigns and simply means "just guts", said Mr Livingstone.

He argues that Hewitt's bad relations with parts of the media and tennis establishment were a function of age. "Imagine if they printed everything you said when you were 21 years old," he said.

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theage.com.au

Hewitt still a novice in grasscourt game
By Linda Pearce
July 8 2002


For all that Lleyton Hewitt has already achieved, including a US Open title, his status as history's youngest year-end No.1, and a place in his first Wimbledon final, it may further concern his rivals to learn that the 20-year-old is considered by past Australian greats as a grasscourt work-in-progress.

Three-time Wimbledon champion John Newcombe said before the tournament began that the key to a Hewitt victory was a more aggressive style of play.

That was rarely needed in the preliminaries to the final, played overnight, Melbourne time, against Argentinian David Nalbandian, for the only two sets the top seed dropped en route were in his quarter-final against Sjeng Schalken.

"You could see him start to come to the net and loosen up a bit after the first set against (Tim) Henman, but he's not convinced yet," Newcombe said. "That's the next dimension to his game and that's a little bit frightening to other players, that he has another dimension that he can take his game to, on grass or any surface."

Fred Stolle, the three-time Wimbledon singles finalist and twice doubles champion, concurred. "Lleyton can still get a lot better on grass, once he learns to get in and serve and volley a little bit more, and I think he will do that in the next couple of years," Stolle said.

Fellow South Australian and Davis Cup captain John Fitzgerald also sees room for improvement, predicting a long career at the top for the baseliner, who had never passed the Wimbledon fourth round before becoming Australia's third consecutive men's singles finalist.

"It's a pretty scary thought, really, but he can get better in a couple of areas, so therefore if he doesn't get a major injury then there's no reason why he can't win several major championships," Fitzgerald said. "I think he has a chance of winning all four."

Only five players have managed this and Andre Agassi was the most recent, in 1999.

Agassi was a child prodigy and Hewitt a teenage variant on the theme, despite some early doubts, his determination and thirst for competition would be enough to compensate for his lack of size and strength at the highest level.

So, regardless of last night's result, has he already exceeded Fitzgerald's expectations? "Let me put it this way: he surprises me every time he goes on the court," the multiple Wimbledon doubles champion said.

"For me my biggest memory was Brazil (in last year's Davis Cup, when Hewitt was unbeaten in three matches on clay against Gustavo Kuerten's team).

"What he did there I'll never, ever, forget it, and to be able to do that under that sort of pressure in that environment, I found that incredible. So he keeps surprising me, every day."

Nalbandian, too, was the least likely of opponents. The 28th seed and other half of the youngest Wimbledon final of the open era was playing in his first senior grand slam event.

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theage.com.au

Hewitt poised to cash in
By Linda Pearce
London
July 7 2002


Pat Cash has reigned long and loudly as Australia's last Wimbledon champion, but today he should prepare to pass the torch. The extraordinary rise of Lleyton Hewitt suggests that handover is at last imminent, 15 years after Cash clambered into the players' box at the All England club to celebrate his own famous victory.

Since 1987, only Pat Rafter has reached a Wimbledon final - or two - but had to play second fiddle to the record-breaking Pete Sampras and the who-would-have-thought Goran Ivanisevic.

Hewitt could win the title having played only one top-20 player, but he should not be judged by the lesser quality of those he has beaten. At 21, and on his fourth visit here, he has unquestionably been the tournament's outstanding player.

Although not a natural grasscourter, Hewitt is still a very good one. Former Davis Cup captain John Newcombe, who first saw Hewitt as a 15-year-old on Sydney's White City lawns, said yesterday: "It was obvious he could play on grass then. He had a great return of serve.

"He wasn't afraid of it. He didn't dislike it, and so he adapted his game to it. He didn't try to say, 'Well, I have to play a different type of game because I'm playing on grass' and it was obvious he was comfortable out there, and that it was always going to be very difficult for other players to serve and volley against him."

Tim Henman was reminded of just that in Friday's 7-5, 6-1, 7-5 semi-final defeat. Hewitt passes those who approach the net and punishes those who think they can outrally him.

"It's almost like you've just got to stay at the baseline and give him no pace to work with," said Henman, who also acknowledged Hewitt's court speed.

"He's not the most aggressive or the hardest hitter from the baseline. When you get half an opportunity, you go for it. You either make a mistake or you hit a winner."

Grass does not intimidate Hewitt, and Martina Navratilova makes the point that the lack of great volleyers allows players to stay back with little fear of being punished. The slower courts and balls have also been in Hewitt's favour this year.

"Lleyton's a great counter-puncher and he does like a bit of pace," said Davis Cup coach Wally Masur. "So it doesn't matter how hard you serve at him, if there's a reasonably true bounce it doesn't bother him. He doesn't mind the ball coming on at all."

Hewitt, who is an Adelaide Crows' fanatic, planned to spend his rest day on the Internet following the scores from Football Park. He also intended to practise and to "chill out", while David Nalbandian and the medically suspect Xavier Malisse resumed their semi-final.

"I feel like I'm hitting the ball well enough just to go out there and worry about my game at the moment," Hewitt said, claiming to have seen little of Malisse or Nalbandian so far. But have no doubt that he will find out. Such is the nature of the beast. Yet the fact that this is a tournament he is expected to win has not been without its pitfalls.

Masur knew as Hewitt's forehand collapsed when on the verge of a quick victory against Sjeng Schalken, and then when he needed two attempts to serve out the match against Henman, that the tension had begun to build.

"He was obviously aware of the situation in the bottom half of the draw," Masur said. "If Sampras was waiting, for example, or Rafter or someone, he would be finishing those matches off snappily. So he's aware of how momentous it is because the opportunity's there."

The fact that it was knocking so loudly was also playing on Henman's mind, and the semi could well have been a de facto final.

Certainly, Hewitt played as if it was, in a performance reminiscent of his second last match against Yevgeny Kafelnikov at last year's US Open, which followed a testing five-set battle against Andy Roddick in the quarters.

"He was in a zone out there against Henman, just like at the US Open, and I think if he keeps that up for one more match, I don't think he can be stopped," said Newcombe.

And so, at 21, the sport's youngest-ever world champion today has the chance for a second grand slam title. Could he eventually become one of the greats?

"I believe so," said his coach, Jason Stoltenberg. "You've got to get a lot of luck and a lot of things have got to fall his way, and he's got a long way to go. He's only got one grand slam, but it's a start."

Shades of Tiger as Hewitt shows he can reign supreme

Nalbandian crushed between the showers as Australian's confidence, balance and timing prove him to be world's best

James Lawton at Wimbledon
08 July 2002


In the graceless, unforgiving language of modern sport it might be said that David Nalbandian, aged 20, "choked". But then history is likely to take a kindly view of this setback at the end of two of the most extraordinary weeks that Wimbledon, the old storehouse of legend, has ever known.

Certainly it is true that if Nalbandian is driven back into the obscurity out of which he leaped from Cordoba, Argentina, into the final of the greatest tournament in tennis, he can reflect that he wasn't simply caught in a mere treacherous current of the game he invaded so surprisingly. What did him in, surely, was a one-man tide of the future.

Lleyton Hewitt from Adelaide is just a year older than the man he crushed so relentlessly between the showers yesterday, but the game he plays looks as if has been drawn from the ages and packaged into a force which can dominate the courts of the world – all of them, fast, slow, whatever pace you care to set – for a good 10 years.

It is a game which wore down the last of Nalbandian's previously stunning resolve in less two hours – by 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 – and though it is undramatic in some ways, lacking, for example the thunder of Boris Becker or the sustained and riotous aggression of John McEnroe, it has a component which has always separated the great ones from those who are required to labour in their wake.

At the core of it is the soaring confidence that comes when you know you are so much better balanced, than the man across the net or the ring or standing beside you on the first tee of a great tournament. Hewitt has the balance and the timing of a sporting god, no question. It is an asset which has a relentlessly dispiriting effect on the resistance of the opposition. Britain's hero, Tim Henman, was overwhelmed by it in the semi-final and yesterday Nalbandian found it squeezing the life out of him from the first exchanges.

Hewitt confessed to just one point of "tightening". It came when he was serving for his second Grand Slam title to place alongside the US Open he won last year. "Yes, I felt tight when I thought of what this tournament meant to me, and how long it had been since Pat Cash had won it for Australia the last time." Hewitt served a double fault, but his agony was brief as Nalbandian committed another of a shoal of unforced errors and drove the ball long. Hewitt fell back into what looked like a stupor of relief, but soon enough he was marching up to the stands in the fashion of Cash and embracing his parents, the Aussie rules footballer Glynn and physical education teacher Cherilyn. "I was trying to take it all in," he recalled later, "but as I was sitting on the chair I thought, 'stuff it, I'll do what Pat Cash did'." In fact, it was clear enough, he had done rather more than his compatriot.

Cash battled to win a title against expectation. Hewitt rode the powerful sense that he was installing a new era of the game, one in which his sheer speed and adaptability suggest an ability to shape so many situations into the basis for new victories. He spoke briefly but eloquently about his seizing of a currently unchallenged status as the world's No 1 player. "When I came to Wimbledon the first time," he said, "I was trying to mix it up. I think I was playing the wrong type of game, coming to the net, chip-charging, this kind of thing. It just wasn't working. I went back and thought about it.

"I said, 'the guys have got to play extremely well to beat me from the back of the court'. I returned well, used my passing shot, my strengths as my edge, my quickness around the court. That's the way my mind began to work. I was going to be my own player, and I knew my serve could get me out of trouble."

Against such boldness of conviction, the unlikely dream of David Nalbandian fell apart, but in the man from Cordoba there had also been been plenty of evidence of the force that can come when a young player of extraordinary ability has the courage to play to his limits. "I've had some great days and I've done my best, but I know now what is required to beat somebody like Lleyton Hewitt. He is a great talent, and it will take a lot of work to get to his level," Nalbandian said.

Precisely what Hewitt's level is will, of course, take another year or two to establish. But the prospects are daunting. He is a curious mix of bravado and shyness – in many ways a Bjorn Borg with a McEnroe inside screaming to break out. The technical view is that he has much of the talent of Andre Agassi, but ultimately will prove harder to beat because he is naturally less of a risk-taker as he drops back to the baseline.

What is stunning is his capacity to pick a moment of vulnerability in an opponent and go for a shot which demands the ultimate precision of a marksman. It breaks a pattern of play, a tight rally, with shattering force and repeatedly he brought it to bear on the fragile pysche of Nalbandian.

There was in it the sense of a masterful competitor familiar to anyone who has seen Tiger Woods take hold of a golf tournament, not necessarily with the boldness of his play but with the absolute confidence with which he lays down a strategy and plays to it with the unbreakable belief that it is within his powers of execution.

Hewitt may never exert such control over his game, but there were times yesterday when the comparison was inevitable. It flowed from the conviction of a young sportsman announcing precisely why he was the best in the world, It was in the certainty that comes when you know that nature, and the force of your own ambition, has given you an unbeatable edge.

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Hewitt confirms changing of the guard
By John Roberts at Wimbledon
08 July 2002


Having cleared "Henman Hill", Lleyton Hewitt yesterday skipped up Pat Cash Creek, which now has steps in place of the heads Cashy clambered over in 1987. Hewitt was entitled to take this route. The 21-year-old from Adelaide not only became the first Australian men's singles champion here for 15 years, but he also saved the crowd from the spectacle of Cash wearing one of Sue Barker's tennis dresses, a sight possibly worse than the male streaker who hurdled the net yesterday.

Hewitt's final hurdle was David Nalbandian, a 20-year-old Argentinian competing in his first senior grass court tournament and finding himself on Centre Court as though stepping with Alice through the looking glass. He coped as well as he was able, but Hewitt, the master of the situation, won 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 after one hour and 56 minutes.

It was an unusual climax to the tournament. Wimbledon patrons are not accustomed to watching two men duel from the baseline for the most prestigious title in the sport. Yesterday the birthplace of serve and volley came close to replicating Roland Garros in Paris, where scrapping for points in lengthy rallies on slow clay courts is the norm.

For years, there have been complaints that Wimbledon's grass courts favoured the big servers and had fallen victim to the modern power game restricted to one, two, or three-shot points. Yesterday we were treated to a sample of the alternative as Hewitt and Nalbandian traded shots chiefly from the back of the court, relying on angles and the depth of strokes to out-manoeuvre each other.

Whether that is preferable or not is in the eye of the beholder. What seems certain is that we shall be seeing a lot more of Hewitt, who demonstrated why he is the world No 1 from the start of the tournament to the finish, surviving one major crisis in the quarter-finals, where he held four match points against Sjeng Schalken in the third set and eventually squeaked through in the fifth set, 7-5.

Hewitt may not be everybody's can of XXXX, but his brash, bouncy style has refreshed the men's game as it goes through the latest changing of the guard, with Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi, standard bearers throughout the 1990s, attempting to hold back the years.

Significantly, Hewitt is the first counter-puncher to win the title since Agassi, 10 years ago, withstood Goran Ivanisevic's blistering serve and triumphed in a heart-stopping fifth set. Hewitt did not have to weather an Ivanisevic-type blitz yesterday, but had to outwit a comparative novice whose real achievement was in representing his country in the men's singles final for the first time and showing the whole of Latin America and Europe that clay-court skills can be translated to any surface.

A recurring debate during the fortnight concerned the pace of Centre Court, a subject which had provoked comment from several players, including Sweden's Jonas Bjorkman, who said it was slow enough to be a clay court, and Tim Henman, who did not go that far but would have preferred a slicker surface.

The combination of a relatively dry spring and the introduction of rye-grass in the mix appeared to produce the higher bounce of the ball usually to be found on medium- pace concrete courts. That did not save some big-name hard-court players from disappearing early, but in Nalbandian's case, grass was grass.

Breaking with tradition, the All England Club allowed the Argentinian world No 32 half an hour to practise on Centre Court yesterday morning before he competed in his first match in tennis's hallowed arena. When the match started, however, it seemed that Nalbandian's brief preview had left him even more in awe of the place.

Hewitt, treating the lawn as if he had inherited it by beating Tim Henman, moved swiftly into his smooth-running stride, breaking his nervous opponent in the first and third games. Nalbandian managed to loosen up sufficiently to hold serve for 1-4 and threatened Hewitt's serve in the next game.

The Australian played his way out of trouble, and signs of stress returned to Nalbandian's face, framed by the straggly makings of a beard, as the Argentinian struggled throughout the seventh game, double-faulting to lose the set after 33 minutes. During that time, Hewitt had converted three of 10 break opportunities, and was eager to improve the ratio of success.

Rain delayed play for 10 minutes after Hewitt held serve in the opening game of the second set, time enough for the streaker interlude before play resumed with Hewitt breaking for 2-0. At this point it seemed that Nalbandian would do well to avoid total humiliation, but he was able to recover the break in the next game with an impressive backhand lob-volley after an exhilarating exchange of lobs and smashes.

After a second rain delay, this time lasting 33 minutes, Nalbandian, serving at 3-4, was passed by a forehand drive to 15-40 and netted a forehand on break point. Hewitt served out the set to 30, finishing with an ace. Both players saved break points early in the third set, Nalbandian again the first to lose his serve, passed by Hewitt's backhand drive down the line for 2-1.

The game Argentinian fought back, winning a rally with a backhand drive to level at 2-2. That was Nalbandian's last act of defiance. He was broken in the next game and then double-faulted twice to lose the seventh game. Hewitt, serving for the match, double-faulted at 40-0, but made amends by luring Nalbandian into hitting a forehand long. Hewitt fell backwards in celebration before picking himself up and heading for Pat Cash Creek.

"I can remember being at my grandparents' house when I was six, watching the Pat Cash match," he said. "For me it was a huge thing to see an Australian win such a big tournament. I hope every kid playing in their local club in Australia will realise you can dream, and if you put in a lot of hard work, your dream is not out of reach." Hewitt had an advantage, of course. He plays like a dream.

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Hewitt graduates with adversity degree

World No 1 has the single-minded intensity of a Connors and McEnroe says he is the fastest player he has ever seen

By Andrew Longmore
07 July 2002


It would seem that a 21-year-old's world could not be more complete. US Open champion, world No 1, Wimbledon champion in all but gold etching on the champions' board. "Unbelievable," says Lleyton Hewitt. "I don't know what to say."

Just one dark cloud shrouds the skies above the young Australian. His beloved Adelaide Crows are struggling in the Australian Football League and, even worse, Port Adelaide, their arch rivals, are top of their league, which makes conversation with his travelling schoolmate, Hayden Eckermann, and Roger Rashid, coach, television journalist and fellow Adelaidian, rather more spicy than he would like. "Footie", Australian Rules, the sport of his father, remains Hewitt's great sporting love outside the confines of the tennis court. The Hewitt family live barely a punt away from Football Park in the suburbs of Adelaide and there are plans afoot, forgive the pun, to parade the new Wimbledon champion in front of the crowd at the Crows' next home game. Only the little matter of his first Wimbledon final against David Nalbandian this afternoon stands between Hewitt and an unconditional acceptance of his status as the best player in the world.

Acceptance? In his homeland, Hewitt has struggled to win hearts. Aussies like a winner, but brashness is heavily punished. Early jousts with his public induced the sense that little Lleyton needed to be pulled down a peg or two. Tall-poppy syndrome, the Australians call it, though his presence on court is still more of overgrown schoolboy than fully matured male. "Lleyton has never minded who he upset," says Rashid, who was once summoned by the veteran Adelaide-based coach Peter Smith to watch a fresh-faced 13-year-old and has been watching ever since. "As a young kid, when he was facing a guy several years older who thought it might be smart to give a bit of mouth, Lleyton would give it back. His mentality has always been: 'I'll get you'. That's what happened against Henman. 'This is feeding me, please give me more'."

Hewitt's outbursts, though, have been spectacularly immature, the flip side of a tendency to open his mouth before engaging the brain. In the second round of the US Open, against the black American James Blake and in front of a black line judge, Hewitt's frustration launched him into dangerous waters. "Look at him," he bellowed at the umpire, pointing at Blake and then the offending official. "Now look at him. What do you see?"

Blake, a gentle giant of a man, let Hewitt off an extremely sharp hook later, but the black American press were less forgiving. What happened next, though, revealed the core of a competitor. Having survived a brutal five-setter against Andy Roddick, the all-American favourite, Hewitt destroyed Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Pete Sampras to take the title. As a demonstration of pure single-minded two-fingered intensity, this was pure Connors.

So, rewind to the tie-break against Sjeng Schalken on Thursday afternoon, Court One. For the first time, Hewitt is beginning to look vulnerable against the raking grounstrokes of the languid Dutchman. He has already forfeited four match points when an overrule on a baseline call gives Schalken a significant advantage. Hewitt's instant reaction is explosive, but somewhere between the baseline and the umpire's chair, he recovers his senses. The conversation with the umpire betrays his frustration, but never descends into abuse. But, for the next two sets, the Australian is a shadow of a No 1 as if his self-imposed tranquility has spilled over into his tennis.

Those close to Hewitt – and they are an exclusive crew – point to a new maturity which has accompanied his swift rise to Grand Slam champion and youngest world No 1. But the larrikin in Hewitt is not far below the surface. Connors never fully matured and nor will Hewitt, but anyone who witnessed his dissection of Tim Henman on Centre Court on Friday will never again question his claim to be the natural successor to the mantle previously worn by Connors and Andre Agassi.

"Andre is more of a punisher on the baseline," says Brad Gilbert, Agassi's former coach. "Lleyton's not like that. What you do know is that Lleyton is going to bring the kitchen sink with him on to court." Gilbert's favourite Hewitt point comes from the closing moments of the Schalken match. The Dutchman double- guesses a backhand volley, Hewitt has anticipated the move and waits to return, but when Schalken sweeps another volley across court, Hewitt has scuttled across court and is ready to make the pass. "There were Lleyton's two greatest assets, right there," added Gilbert. "His heart and his feet." John McEnroe, who spent a lifetime combating Bjorn Borg's speed, thinks Hewitt is the quickest player he has ever seen.

But it is the attitude which makes the man. Hewitt thrives on adversity. Davis Cup victories over Alex Corretja in Barcelona and Gustavo Kuerten in the Brazilian's home town of Florianopolis are the prime reference points on his motivational compass. At the time, Kuerten was the No 1 player in the world. Hewitt won in three sets on clay.

"That was a real turning point," says Rashid. "He was heavier off the forehand side, he was hitting clear forehand winners that day. But he is also smart on court, he has good court management and a good rapport system. On court, he'll be able to tell you exactly where his friends are, not just in the players' box, but maybe where Wally Masur and John Fitzgerald are, maybe where I am and he uses them to hone in on. You could unfurl big banners for Tim Henman and he wouldn't notice. He couldn't tell you what was going on."

Hewitt's gestures, punching the air, pointing towards his supporters, are essential to his wellbeing on court, but they have not endeared the Australian to his peers. Corretja, who objects to Hewitt's frequent self-chastisement, has refused to speak to him since the Davis Cup final. But isolation is the companion of the champion, and it is a state Hewitt can live with as long as he can rely on the mateship of Hayden Eckermann, now a permanent member of Hewitt's entourage.

A switch of coach, from Darren Cahill to Jason Stoltenberg, was messily handled last year, heightening the antagonism of the local press, who were dismissed from the gates of Hewitt's family home, where he still lives upstairs in a converted flat. But no one could question Hewitt's fluency in the interview room or the court this past two weeks. Rashid believes his best tennis is still a couple of years away, a prospect to disturb the dreams of Tim Henman and David Nalbandian.

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Masur warns Hewitt against burn-out
| Sports Watch ... 07 July 2002 |


Lleyton Hewitt must guard against burn out, says Australian Davis Cup coach Wally Masur.


Hewitt's determination to chase down every point has propelled him to the US Open title, the world No.1 ranking and into the Wimbledon men's final.

But it could also lead to his tennis career stalling or ending prematurely unless he was wary and heeded the right advice, Masur said.

"He's so dynamic and players like that tend to get injured," Masur said.

"He's very young and he's had a few things obviously. That's always a possibility. Anyone who throws themselves around like that, problems can arise."

But he said 21-year-old Hewitt's relatively small and light 180cm tall, 68kg frame would be to his advantage, along with the expertise in his travelling entourage.

"He's got a light frame and that helps. Big guys tend to take a bit of a pounding," Masur said.

"He's very fluid, he's a great natural athlete.

"He's got good people around him. He travels with a physio and a fitness trainer and I think they're doing their best to safeguard his longevity."

Hewitt's first Wimbledon final fell on the 50th anniversary of Australian legend Frank Sedgman's win.

Sedgman believes Hewitt has yet to reach his peak, and also fears for his potential to burn out.

"I think he still needs to refine his game a bit and I hope he remains injury-free," Sedgman told British newspaper The Independent.

"I admire the way he's a real go-getter. He's got a lot of heart and he's certainly got the determination to succeed."

Three-times Wimbledon champion Boris Becker drew comparisons between Hewitt and Bjorn Borg, who won the championships in five consecutive years from 1976 to 1980.

"He reminds me of Bjorn Borg, the way he plays, the way he wills himself to win and the way he falls to his knees and turns to his family and friends in the players' box," Becker wrote in The Times.

"He knows where he is now on centre court and that is such an advantage. Under normal conditions he will be champion, but your first Wimbledon final is not a normal condition. This is sport, this is magic."

Cash: Hewitt a worthy champ
Copyright © 2002 Nando Media
Copyright © 2002 Agence France-Presse


LONDON (AFP) - Former title holder Pat Cash on Sunday hailed fellow Aussie Lleyton Hewitt as a worthy Wimbledon champion.

Top-seeded Hewitt overpowered Argentinian outsider David Nalbandian 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 on Centre Court to claim his first men's singles title at the All England Club.

Cash, the last Australian to win the title in 1987, admitted that his countryman was in a class of his own over the past fortnight.

"There's no doubt about it. He was the only guy out there who is the worthy champion," Cash told the BBC.

"Sampras (Pete) is on the way down, and Agassi (Andre) didn't get through, and other than that there isn't anybody who deserves to win that trophy.

"He (Hewitt) was the toughest player and the best all-around player he could be. It was faultless really.

"Lleyton was his usual ruthless self. That was the title he really wanted to get and nothing was going to get in his way."

And Cash said that 21-year-old Hewitt, the reigning U.S. Open champion, had some of the best years ahead of him.

"There's more Grand Slams in him. How many is anybody's guess," said Cash.

"It's kind of sad that he's got a couple of weeks before he's back playing tournaments. He's going to be exhausted. You look forward to a rest but he won't have much of a chance.

"I still think that when it comes down to the U.S. Open he will find himself fired up," said Cash.

Cash said that he was disappointed by 20-year-old Nalbandian's display, but admitted that an exhausting fortnight had taken its toll on the Wimbledon novice.

"I suppose it was a bit dull for us watching and the crowd tried to get Nalbandian back in the match, but he didn't have anything in the tank," said Cash.

"Not having a day off and not being able to recover is really tough for him. I expected him to play better than he did. He probably played two-thirds as well as he could play.

"He needed to start pretty well and drop into a rhythm, and whether it was nerves or not he didn't have a rhythm.

"He did break serve a couple of times and it looked like we had a match, but he couldn't get going."

 

BBC
Sunday, 7 July, 2002, 15:19 GMT 16:19 UK
Wimbledon uncovered

By Matt Slater
BBC Sport Online streaker editor


They might be lightning fast at covering the All England club's playing surfaces when it rains, but Wimbledon's streaker-response time is far less impressive.

All fortnight we have admired the sleek efficiency of Wimbledon's well-oiled rain drill - a few spots of the wet stuff, the umpire suspends play, the net comes down and 20 green-clad man sprint across the court dragging a tarpaulin behind them.

Total cover in about five seconds.

This efficiency, sadly (or happily, depending on your view of these things), does not extend to covering naked intruders.

With men's finalists Lleyton Hewitt and David Nalbandian just back on court after a 15-minute rain delay, one bored spectator (it was getting a bit one-sided) decided to play his very own Centre Court exhibition match.

Wearing only a broad smile, the twinkle-toed naturist made light of the cool temperature (well, that's his excuse) and cavorted around the court for nearly a minute.

He even hurdled the net twice - demonstrating ably why we should never allow Olympic athletes to perform naked again, as they did in classical times.

As divertingly different as this all was, the biggest eye-opener was the sight of Wimbledon's security staff attempting to cover the frolicking nude with large red capes - it simply cried out for shouts of 'Ole!' from the crowd.

And it is not as if they haven't had to deal with this kind of brazen cheekiness before.

As BBC commentator John Barrett pointed out, a streaker also interrupted the 1996 men's final between Malivai Washington and Richard Krajicek.

But then as commentary box buddy John Lloyd explained, "That was a better sight, that was a female."

Well, quite, but Hewitt's consort Kim Clijsters wasn't complaining - SW19 has rarely seen the Belgian so animated.

Missed tackle

So was it just another example of the eccentricity the world expects from Wimbledon week (like playing tennis outdoors in an English summer)?

Absolutely, but there was one man who didn't look pleased by Wimbledon's experiment with avant-garde contemporary dance...referee Alan Mills.

The grumpy kill-joy had a face worse than thunder while watching his bumbling staff reprise a Keystone Cops routine.

As the Beeb's Barrett said: "Poor old Alan, he just didn't know how to tackle him."

Rather you than me, Alan.

Hewitt the Ripper: Lleyton dominates
7/7/02 5:44 PM

By Matthew Cronin


If Lleyton Hewitt was impressive in pouncing on Pete Sampras to win his first Grand Slam title at the 2001 U.S. Open, his ethereal play in his crushing of Argentina's David Nalbandian in the 2002 Wimbledon final on Sunday brings to mind another adjective -- dominant.

"It's a real ripper," Hewitt said of his Wimbledon trophy.

In outplaying Nalbandian in every aspect of the game, Hewitt became the first aggressive baseliner since Andre Agassi 10 years ago to win the Wimbledon crown. The decade long rule by serve-and-volleyers Pete Sampras, Richard Krajicek and Goran Ivanisevic is now put to rest and a look at the past five Grand Slam winners indicates that just having a big bomb of a serve is no longer good enough to get it done in the newfangled world of all-court tennis. That group is composed of Hewitt, a super-quick wall of a competitor who is able to end points both from the back and at the net; '02 Aussie titlist Thomas Johansson, who doesn't have a big weapon but is solid everywhere; and '02 Roland Garros titlist Albert Costa, he of the huge groundies, thick legs and a newfound confidence closing points at the net.

"If you return well and you stay aggressive from the back of the court and you pass well, then I don't think there's any reason why the baseliners shouldn't do that well at Wimbledon," Hewitt said early this week. "A guy like Agassi was able to do it and I can draw confidence from watching a guy like him chop up a lot of good serve-and-volleyers."

By winning Wimbledon, the 21-year-old Hewitt did what only Sampras has been able to do at the hallowed lawns of the All-England Club the past decade -- win the event convincingly while coming into the fortnight as heavy favorite. Never one to fold under pressure, Hewitt was locked in form the
time that he arrived at SW 19, speaking with the air of a champion and confident that he could put down any style of challenger. His one big scare came in the quarterfinals against zoning Dutchman Sjeng Schalken, but when push came to shove deep in the fifth set, it was Hewitt who was able to
sprint the extra step and come up with a crowd- dizzying big shot.

Hewitt isn't the first whippersnapper to rule on the lawns, but the No. 1 is the first 21-year-old in a long time to dominate the tour with an all-around game. You would have to go back to former Swedish great Mats Wilander's amazing days in the 1980s in Melbourne, Paris and New York to recall a player with a slight build and no overwhelming weapon -- save for heart and guile -- who was the clear cut favorite for a long stretch of time.

Since racing past Sampras last September, Hewitt has been on an amazing run. A remarkably focused competitor with one of the world's most effective returns of serves, Hewitt ended '01 as the youngest player to finish ranked No. 1 in the ATP history at the age of 20 by virtue of taking the year-end Masters Cup in Sydney.

But instead of starting '02 with a bang and winning the Aussie Open, the 5-foot-11, 150-pounder fell victim to the chicken pox and was upset the first round. Bedridden, he was unable to lead his team in Davis Cup against Argentina, developments that upset him.To complicate matter even further, he was trying out a new coach, Aussie Jason Stoltenberg, whom her hired in the off-season after his coach of four years, Darren Cahill, resigned (Cahill is now coaching Andre Agassi).

But in his first tournament back in February in San Jose, Hewitt outfought Agassi for the title. Two weeks later, he scalded Tim Henman for the masters Series Indian Wells crown. The boy had become a man.

Agassi paid him an ultimate set of compliments. "He's a great competitor, his game is consistent and when he's down he's plays big situations aggressively and takes control of the point," Agassi said. "That's the sign of somebody who's ready for big moments. He has great skill and is earning his place with the best of us."
Hewitt had a respectable clay court season, losing a tight fourth round sweat fest to Guillermo Canas at Roland Garros. Then he took the fast train to London and once his toes touched the grass blades, he never left the center of the fairway. He won his third straight title at Queens by dissecting Henman and despite catching a flu in Rosmalen the next week, entered Wimbledon as focused as he has ever been, elbowing his way past the tough Jonas Bjorkman in the first round in straight sets and then not dropping a set in his next three matches against Greg Carraz, Julian Knowle and Mikhail Youzhny. After overcoming Schalken, he then quickly extinguished Tim-bledon (England's Tim Henman ) in the semis and then blew out Nalbandian.

Hewitt is so far ahead in the rankings right now that it would be a near miracle for someone to pull ahead of him by October.Almost assuredly, he will enter the U.S. Open ranked No. 1 and if he continues to improve his serve and play around the net, he will be the overwhelming favorite to repeat as champion.

For a guy who once a dreamy-eyed kid who job it was to serve orange juice to the Aussie Davis Cup team, that's not a bad position to be in.

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Borg, Connors, Agassi and now Hewitt: The baseline is back

7/7/02 10:11 PM
By STEVE WILSTEIN


WIMBLEDON, England (AP) _ A fizzle in the drizzle. A Wimbledon final hackers could appreciate and only the most loyal fans could love.

It had as much tension as a snapped string. As much excitement as teatime.

The loudest cheer came for a man who somersaulted naked over the net. At least he provided comic relief. Not that anyone expected anything more.

Lleyton Hewitt was No. 1 coming in and he's No. 1 going out, brandishing his first Wimbledon trophy Sunday after a 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 drubbing of 20-year-old David Nalbandian, an endearing but overwhelmed Argentine making his debut on Centre Court.

If there was little to savor in this sloppy affair, it at least provided a welcome change from the fusillade of aces that ring out most other years.

Pete Sampras sometimes served more aces in two games than the seven Hewitt and Nalbandian produced in three sets. On the other hand, they hit more groundstrokes in one rally than Sampras did in a whole match. To the typical weekend player, this felt a little more familiar.

Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors, Andre Agassi and now Hewitt are the only men to win Wimbledon from the baseline in the Open era. The only ones, really, since Bill Tilden back in 1930.

This final was the first between two baseliners since Borg beat Connors two straight years, 1977 and 1978.

The baseline game may be back on Centre Court. But for how long?

History suggests that Hewitt's title run this year is more an anomaly than a portent for the future. Consider the trend: Connors in 1982, Agassi in 1992, Hewitt in 2002. Once every 10 years. Not a baseliner in between.

The reason is simple. Grass, where the ball skids low and fast, favors the big serve-and-volleyer. Always will.

Winning from the backcourt takes a rare combination of sharp returns and steady groundstrokes. It takes intelligence and swift legs, canny anticipation and the endurance to chase balls all over the court.

Most of all it takes patience and guts, a willingness to stand 10 yards from the net when the opponent is rushing in, trying to win with the power of passing shots or the finesse of drops and lobs.

Agassi stands his ground in the center of the baseline and controls points with flat, crushing groundstrokes from side to side, winning as much by wearing players down as by whipping shots past them. He's not as fast afoot as the other baseliners, but he seems to know where all the balls are going and usually gets there in time. No one has had quicker reflexes on returns or has taken shots earlier on the hop.

Connors also hit flat groundstrokes, his shots clearing the net by the smallest of margins in a way that thrilled the crowds. He was the best returner of his era, but he wasn't content to stay back all the time. He liked to press the attack, taking short balls or groundstrokes on the fly while moving forward.

Hewitt is more like Borg, counterpunching rather than dictating the terms of a rally.

``He's Borg with less spin,'' Brian Gottfried, one of the top pros of the 1970s, said as he watched at Wimbledon.

Borg, who won Wimbledon five straight years from 1976 to 1980, was the baseliner supreme who hit with the heaviest topspin, his shots arcing five feet over the net, biting and kicking up. But Borg also learned to transform his game on grass, to play a more serve-and-volley style his last few years.

Hewitt could do the same. He's a lightweight at 150 pounds, but he can serve at more than 120 mph. He knows how to hit the approach and how to volley. At 21, with trophies from last year's U.S. Open and now Wimbledon, he's still a work in progress.

``When I first came on ... I was actually trying to mix it up,'' he said. ``I think I was playing the wrong style of game _ come to the net, chip-charge, that kind of stuff. It wasn't working. I went back. I said, 'The guys have got to play extremely well if they're going to beat me from the back of the court.' I returned well, used my passing shot, my quickness.''

Though Australians in the past grew up playing and loving grass, Hewitt was best on hardcourts. But the more he worked on his serve, the more he found he could win on grass. The past three years, he won the Wimbledon warmup at Queens.

``My serve has got me out of a lot of trouble the last few years in big tournaments,'' he said. ``When you start winning Queens a few years in a row ... then you start realizing you're a real contender for the big one a couple of weeks down the track.''

Still, it's tough to win Wimbledon year after year from the baseline. This year, with all the strange upsets, belonged to Hewitt. The future probably still belongs to the big boys.

Steve Wilstein is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at swilstein(at)ap.org

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LLEYTON SWEEPS TO WIMBLEDON TITLE OVER NALBANDIAN

What's ahead for No. 1 Hewitt


By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net

Fred Mullane
Camerawork USA, Inc.

It's one thing to go into Wimbledon the favorite and it's another to so thoroughly dominate the field, but that is exactly what the 21-year-old Adelaide Crow Lleyton Hewitt did, embarrassing England's Tim Henman in the semis and then wiping out Argentina's David Nalbandian in the final.

The tour hasn't had a dominant 21-year-old in a long time – not Pete Sampras, who began to peak at age 22, nor Andre Agassi, who played his best tennis in his late 20s. Jim Courier and his Aussie Open through Roland Garros runs comes to mind. Both he and Lleyton are nail-tough competitors with huge hearts and not just a little bit of hate brimming underneath their white caps. Courier was a more powerful player off the ground, but Lleyton is a more accomplished all-courter who is faster and a much better volleyer.

Hewitt has been the sport's top dog since he won his first U.S. Open crown last September and it's hard to think of anyone who is in a good enough mental space to knock him from the top spot this year.

Only Marat Safin appeared to have a fighting chance coming into Wimbledon and he played so poorly in his loss to giant killer Olivier Rochus and took the defeat so lightly that it will take heart transplant to get the 2000 U.S. Open champion spilling his guts again.

Nalbandian showed a lot of game and grit in reaching the final and it's apparent that he has a solid future in the sport, but he does not have weapons to hit through Hewitt on hard courts. Agassi is sure to make trouble on the cement this summer and has a shot at the Open crown, but the 32-year-old dad simply will not play enough to take over the No. 1 ranking.

THE SLIM FIELD OF CONTENDERS
Who else is left? Not Sampras, who will be fortunate to win a Tier II title this summer; not Yevgeny Kafelnikov, who seems more motivated playing doubles now; not Henman, who is Hewitt's prisoner; not Aussie Open champ Thomas Johansson, who seems destined to be a one-Slam wonder; and certainly not Roger Federer, who has been the most disappointing Slam performer of the year.

There are a few men who have shown enough spunk this summer to at least earn themselves a brawl with Lleyton in Flushing Meadows: Guga Kuerten, who's fresh and put in on the line at Roland Garros despite a lot of rust; '02 French champ Albert Costa, who now finally believes in himself and is hitting the ball big enough to dig some holes in asphalt; Wimby semifinalist Xavier Malisse, who appears to be finally adding bravery to his talent; Roland Garros finalist Juan Carlos Ferrero, the only notable Spaniard gutsy enough to play Wimbledon; and Andy Roddick, whose miserable last six weeks will give him plenty of motivation to step up in the summer.

All these men need to make an impression during the U.S. summer hardcourt season leading up to the Open, so they can give themselves enough confidence if they have to face Down Under's favorite back alley brawler.

Give credit to Hewitt's new coach, Jason Stoltenberg, for aiding his stead in improving his serve and volleys over the past seven months. Hewitt is nearly a complete player now and although he still could make some minor improvements in his game, it's very hard to find many holes there. Unless he breaks a leg or goes on a massive losing streak, the defending U.S. Open champion will go into Flushing Meadows as a huge favorite, a distinction that few, if any, 21-year-olds have held in the past decade.

Sunday, July 7

Hewitt was in his element


By Curry Kirkpatrick
ESPN The Magazine

WIMBLEDON, England -- Maybe David Neanderthal or Nebulous or Nalbandian or whatever his name is should have missed his starting time -- the way he did at '99 junior Wimbledon when he got disqualified. Or maybe he should have taken off his tennis whites and put together a jig and a net jump -- the way serial streaker Mark Roberts did at a rain break before being escorted away. Or maybe Nalbandian should have paid a few more visits to a Centre Court he'd never seen except for an emergency practice the morning of the last round of the first grass court tournament he'd ever played.

Whatever he might have done, as soon as the Unknown Argentine did what he had to do -- trod the hallowed ground, armed primarily with a sometimes-nasty forehand and a finely-honed sense of humor -- Lleyton Hewitt, the top seed and No. 1 player in the world, showed him he really didn't belong. Hewitt ruthlessly drilled the poor fellow as if in a backyard frolic -- and turned the tennis championship of the world into a 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 laugher.

Nabandian, ranked 32, had won six matches through the Fortnight, whipping Pete Sampras' conqueror, George Bastl, winning five tie breaks as well as two character-testing five-setters. But he's a baseliner -- and Hewitt's the best at that. He's a quick, speedy grinder -- and Hewitt's the best of those. Nalbandian'd taken advantage of this year's heavier balls, higher bounce and slower grass -- but the pugnacious Hewitt might have been Brer Rabbit in the Briar Patch under those conditions.

Before the match was four games old, Nalbandian had exposed his nerves and inexperience -- or Hewitt had exposed them for him, striking 12 clear winners (against zero errors) -- and Boris Becker, resplendent in his Rod Stewart retro ruffled white shirt in the BBC commentating box, was chuckling at the picture on his monitor of Nalbandian's French girlfriend, Victoria: "But at least that is a beautiful girlfriend he has."

The beauty of the match was almost all from Hewitt's side -- uncontainable rockets from along the baseline, especially his lethal inside-out forehand; depth and weight of shot to all the corners and angles; his vastly improved serve always there to bail him out of trouble spots. As if there were many of those. The worst finals spanking at this venue since John McEnroe thrashed Jimmy Connors 6-2, 6-1, 6-1 in 1984. The match was interrupted twice in the early going for (surprise!) rain -- but the only real suspense came when Roberts, 37, made one of his typical naked forays upon a major event just as the two players were returning from the first delay.

Streakologists will recall 1996 when, just before an equally horrid championship round mismatch between Richard Krajicek and Mal Washington, a fetching blonde rushed nude onto Centre Court. This time Roberts -- who has streaked the British Open at St. Andrews, a soccer final at Glasgow, the Grand National steeplechase and a snooker match, once with a toy puppy concealing his privates -- did the honors. "Why not they get him? He out there five minutes," said Nalbandian later, who nevertheless seemed to, uh, raise his game momentarily, staying with Hewitt for 12- and 15-shot rallies, making him work for his points, even poking some winners himself.

But The Kangaroo Kid -- having escaped the dangerous Sjeng Schalken in the quarters after being down a break twice in the fifth set and then pounding the home favorite Tim Henman in straights in the semis -- wasn't about to let his moment slip. "I couldn't wait for Wimbledon to start this year," said the Adelaide, Australia, native who won the Wimby grass warmup at Queens for the third year in succession (the first since McEnroe to do that). "It's always been a big thing for an Australian to win this tournament. I remember Pat (Cash) 15 years ago winning, watching it with my grandmother. His headband, his fire out there."

Cash also was the first to climb up into the stands to embrace his family and friends after winning the All England. And Hewitt did that, too. "I thought, stuff it, I'm going up there," he said.

Not that the new champ, who watches the series of Rocky DVD's for inspiration and was the youngest player ever to attain the No. 1 ranking last winter, embraces the public and press as much. Nor the stress of the spotlight. There was that time a few years ago when he referred to the "stupidity of the Australian public;" the 2001 French when he labeled an umpire "a spastic;" the James Blake incident at the U.S. Open when he insinuated a black linesman was partial to his African-American opponent. An Australian magazine once rated Hewitt the country's "least admired sportsperson." And of Hewitt's youthful transgressions -- the in-your-face cockiness, the arrogance, all those "C'MON'S" -- Agassi's former coach, Brad Gilbert, once said he'd be "amazed if someone didn't whack him in the locker room."

But nobody's going to whack Hewitt on court any time soon. He may be an enigma, preferring to keep to his sporting family -- father Glynn is a former Aussie Rules Football player, mother Cherilyn is a phys ed teacher, girlfriend Kim Clijsters from Belgium is among the top 10 players in the world -- rather than do media interviews or make public appearances. But so what if he'd rather dress down with his "mates" rather than talk tennis or explore his private life with some sleaze Fourth Estate. What is he, 12?

Naw, he just looks like a pimply pre-teen, even long after he's cut his surfer-rat locks into that new, crewcut, bullet-head look. At any rate, he's the youngest player to win Wimbledon since Becker -- and who's to say Hewitt won't keep winning here on the grass as long as his lightning-quick, groundstroking, bard of the baseline predecessor, Bjorn Borg, did?

As for Nalbandian, he was the last wackiest straw in the wackiest Wimbledon within memory. Neither previous 2001 finalist back in the tournament. Sampras and Agassi and every other American gone before the fourth round. Three South Americans in the last eight. Jennifer Capriati's ex-boyfriend advancing a round further than Jennifer herself. (Not to mention, Xavier Malisse granted a 10-minute reprieve in his losing semifinal to Nalbandian to call his doctor in Belgium about his heart palpitations; apparently, they weren't over The Capster.) Anna Kournikova... Uh, just wanted to envision the name one more time.

Through all this chaos, sure enough, came the weirdest story of all, Nalbandian, just 20, the grandson of an Armenian immigrant to tiny Unquillo, Argentina, in the high Sierra range just outside Cordoba -- who, just to practice for his first Wimbledon, had to persuade his club back in Buenos Aires to mark out tennis court lines on a cricket pitch.

Nalbandian wasn't just the first Argentine this or that -- the great Guillermo Vilas won four Grand Slam titles but never got past the quarters at the All England. N-Band was the first man from the South American continent to reach the final -- after Alex Olmedo, the UCLA Bruin from Peru who won the title here in 1959. And the first from any continent in the open era to make the Wimbledon championship round in his debut at Wimbledon. (The last five players who won here in their first visit were all Americans: Bill Tilden, Ellsworth Vines, Bobby Riggs, Ted Schroeder and Dick Savitt.)

Nalbandian had an impressive junior career, beating Roger Federer in the finals of the '98 U.S. Open juniors and finishing third in the world. But when he hooked up with former tour player and countryman Gabriel Markus -- who cherishes being the only player from his country to beat Sampras -- as his coach last season, Nalbandian really took off, improving over 200 spots in the rankings (to No. 47) in 2001 and then winning his first title at Estoril (beating Juan Carlos Ferrero and Carlos Moya) in 2002.

Hewitt's pedigree, however, trumped his opponent in the same way he ripped his game asunder on the court. Ken Rosewall won the French at 18, Rod Laver and Lew Hoad also were champions of majors as infants. But of all twelve Australians who have triumphed amid the leafy glades of SW 19, Hewitt is the youngest.

"Our sport needs a dominant figure," Becker said. "Lleyton is the perfect role model to those kids who should know you don't need to be 6-4, 200 pounds to succeed in tennis. The right attitude. The right technique. You can make it with other stuff. That's his gift."

In 1997, the kid was only 15 years, 11 months, when he became the youngest qualifier at the Australian Open. Four and a half tennis seasons later he's already won 16 tournaments -- with many more to come.

Now if the U.S. and Wimbledon champion can only open up to the outside world -- and show an attractive personal side he reveals only in miniature flashes -- Hewitt might win many more thousands of hearts. And in the process maybe even save an entire sport.

Curry Kirkpatrick is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at curry.kirkpatrick@espnmag.com.

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Sunday, July 7
Aussie men sweep events
Reuters


WIMBLEDON, England -- Lleyton Hewitt's first men's singles title at Wimbledon was only the start of a day of celebration for the hordes of Australians at the All England Club.

While Hewitt cruised to 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 victory against Argentine David Nalbandian on Centre Court, Australian doubles specialist Todd Woodbridge was on court one winning his seventh men's doubles title -- his first with Swede Jonas Bjorkman.

Later in the day 18-year-old Australian Todd Reid won the boys' singles final 7-6 (5), 6-4 over Lamine Ouahab of Algeria.

All three were cheered on by a large Australian contingent both at courtside and in front of the giant television screen on the grassy knoll dubbed "Henman Hill" -- several of their banners calling for it to be renamed "Hewitt Hill" in honor of their hero.

Hewitt, who draped himself in the Australian flag before parading the trophy, said the tradition of Australian success at Wimbledon made his victory all the sweeter.

"We've had so many great players do well here in the past," Hewitt said. "So it's sort of a place you enjoy coming back to and you look forward to coming to play."

Woodbridge celebrated his 6-1, 6-2, 6-7 (7), 7-5 victory against Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor with Mark Woodforde -- the now retired Australian with whom he won his previous six men's doubles titles here -- who is here as a television pundit.

Holding a glass of champagne, Woodbridge, 31, said the success was a boon for Australian tennis in what could have been a down period.

"The young guys in the junior program have really stepped up to the plate in the last two majors, and come through with some good results. That's terrific," he said. "We had thought we didn't have much backup after I'd retired from singles and Jason Stoltenberg, Richard Fromberg also retired, Mark Woodforde also.

"Things were a bit lean when you notice we only had four players in the main draw. For Todd Reid to come through and win, that's a huge boost for junior tennis in Australia."

Woodbridge said he thought 21-year-old Hewitt, whose success was the 21st for Australians in the men's singles, had more major titles ahead of him.

"I think he's a four to six Slam winner" he said. "It's just a matter of keeping fit, the drive and motivation he has. He's just a freak really in a way. I mean, people like Lleyton come along every 15, 20 years, one person like that."

Hewitt said he hoped his victory would be a spur to young tennis hopefuls back in Australia, as Pat Cash's victory in 1987 had been for him.

"I think for every, you know, kid playing in the local club in Australia, just for them to realize that it is possible. You can, you know, dream," he said.

"You've still got to put in a lot of hard work and try and get there, but it is possible. It's not out of your reach.

"For me it was such a huge thing to see an Australian win such a big tournament. I think that, you know, rubs off a little bit."

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and some tidbits...

Hewitt is the third-youngest to win Wimbledon - only Boris Becker (17) and Bjorn Borg (20) were younger Wimbledon winners than Hewitt since the advent of the Open tennis era in 1968.

For the second rain delay in the second set, they stopped play at 30-30, 3-3 at 3.33 pm for 33 minutes, the same time as the length of the first set.

"When he was in primary school he wrote an essay which said 'I'm going to win Wimbledon', and now he's done it." Max Hewitt, his grandfather.

Hewitt and Clijsters will have a week off in Belgium.

The Guardian's version of BBC's Gamewatch
Lleyton Hewitt v David Nalbandian: game-by-game


Email whatever guff comes into your head druring the match to dan.rookwood@guardian.co.uk and during the Robinson's Barley Water breaks you might find they form part of the report

Dan Rookwood
Sunday July 7, 2002

Lleyton Hewitt wins the Championship in straight sets with a 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Wimbledon debutant David Nalbandian
Hewitt storms to Championship point, then wavers with a double-fault, the little tease. He doesn't keep us waiting long. Nalbandian forces it long and Hewitt has done it. You have to say, he's a bit good. He dropped just two sets all fortnight. Herb has left the Sainsbury's building. They are working on your question, Neil. I had my scooter stolen last night. I'd only had it two days. Because of that, I reckon I know exactly how Nalbandian is feeling right now. Sainsbury's have a lovely selection of Pink Grapefruit squash and other pink drinks, I'm informed. Thanks for all your emails. The sky is very blue now.
Third set: Hewitt 5 - 2 Nalbandian* (Sets: 2 - 0)
Oh deary me. Two double-faults. Nalbandian has all but given up. Hewitt is serving for the Championship he so richly deserves and quite obviously desires. "Your report should not be in the sports pages but somewhere hidden between the gardening section and the anitque collecting section," says Laurence from Manchester. Laurence doesn't like tennis. Neither does his mum, apparently.

Third set: Hewitt* 4 - 2 Nalbandian (Sets: 2 - 0)
Dave has lost the plot. A dodgy net chord falls Hewitt's way. Nalbandian looks up to the heavens and pleads for divine intervention. The crowd laugh and they laugh and they laugh. Because, after all, it's sooo funny. Next thing he'll balance his racquet on his head. Hewitt wins the game very easily by the way. David still seems to be affected by those line-calls.

Third set: Hewitt 3 - 2 Nalbandian* (Sets: 2 - 0)
Boo-hiss-boo. Our Dave is broken back. Can these boys not hold their own serves or what? Nalbandian is the victim of some unfortunate line-calls and he carries on his remonstrations with the umpire throughout the break. He's drinking some vile-looking pink stuff. It's definitely not Robinson's. Ed and Soph, do Sainsbury's make any pink squash?

Third set: Hewitt* 2 - 2 Nalbandian (Sets: 2 - 0)
Dave is listening. He breaks back. He's not playing half badly really. And we all know what happened to Hewitt in his quarter-final against Schalken. He had match points and then went on to lose two sets. Nalbandian is not out of this yet. Honest, he's not. Honest. Charlie Smith writes in: "I'm reading your report because I am at work. I am at work now because I did not get all my work done last week. I did not get all my work down last week because I spent too much time reading about what was going on in the tennis. I feel trapped." Charlie asks that the following be "passed on to the ladies" like a common cold: he's a single, 26-year-old barrister who can cook. Do us some cheese on toast then, Charlie, with a bit of Worcester sauce on top.

Third set: Hewitt 2 - 1 Nalbandian* (Sets: 2 - 0)
Neil Clough is back. "Please ask the Sainsbury's chaps if they have any plans to open stores in America. Next to the streakers and sporadic rain it's something I miss about dear old England." Well, Herb et al? Nalbandian saves a break point himself beautifully with an angled slice volley at the net - very cool under pressure. He might be cooler if he shaved off that face fuzz though. And then after all that, Hewitt wins the game. He's pumped. He screams again, his eyes are out on stalks, the veins pop out of his neck and he points at someone in the crowd. Is this to be all over in straight sets? Come on, Dave, entertain us.

Third set: Hewitt* 1 - 1 Nalbandian (Sets: 2 - 0)
It's just a slightly different game to the Ivanisevic v Rafter final last year. Neither player has served and volleyed once yet. "I'm an Australian, sitting a shift at a scientific experiment on the Swiss-French border," says Gaby Bright. "There is not much to do - just collecting data - and taking advantage of fast internet connection to trawl the web. Go, Aussies, go." Quite. But Hewitt makes heavy weather of this game. However, he saves both his break points quite brilliantly. Nalbandian screams out "No!" really loudly when he muppets the ball into the net. Hewitt clenches his fist and glares at his opponent after he wins the game with a smash. Grr!

Third set: Hewitt 0 - 1 Nalbandian* (Sets: 2 - 0)
Sean Matthews from the English department of the University of Wales wanted to let us know that he is reading. "I'm in an internet cafe in Sofia and I wondered what the score was," he says. Dave saves a break point to hold on to his first service game of this set.

Second set: Hewitt* 6 - 3 Nalbandian (Sets: 1 - 0)
After just an hour and 16 minutes of actual play, Hewitt takes the second set with an ace. "Come on!" he screams again. President Neil is back: "NBC have just shockingly replayed the streaker incident in its entirity (apart from a strategically placed blurry bit) including the leap over the net, flabby buttock display and brilliantly executed moonwalk. Not sure if McEnroe's daughter got to see any of it but you can bet Tatum is onto her lawyers as we speak...corruption of a minor and all that."

Second set: Hewitt 5 - 3 Nalbandian* (Sets: 1 - 0)
As you were, sir. 1610 hours, Hewitt punches the air for the first time and screams "Come on!" He's not business-like now. There is a similar ejaculation from the Aussie (behave) at the end of the game as he breaks Nalbandian's serve. Hewitt is very strong mentally. He now serves to take a two-set lead. Before that last rain break we had a game on our hands.

Second set: Hewitt* 4 - 3 Nalbandian (Sets: 1 - 0)
Well it was a 35-minute break in the end. "We are following your commentary while working through customer complaints in customer management at Sainsbury's," write Matt, Soph, Ed and Herb. "So if anyone has any burning questions they have always wanted to get off their chest about Sainsbury's now is their chance." Hewitt wins the game to maintain the slight advantage in this second set. He's deliberately slowing play down to make Nalbandian nervous.

3.40pm: Rain delay update No2
Ho-hum. It's just a 15-minute shower, so they say. Andrew Peacock reckons BBC pundit Pat Cash could do with one of those. "Has Pat Cash has been sleeping rough?" he asks. "His look is out of the same book of personal grooming that Nalbandian's using methinks." We're all so hypercritical today, aren't we?

Second set: Hewitt 3 - 3 Nalbandian* (Sets: 1 - 0)
Dave gets the benefit of the net chord to win the game, despite a couple of mishits along the way. It's quite exciting stuff now. I'm interested to know who out there is reading this on a Sunday afternoon, and more to the point, why. You've clearly got nowt better to do, so drop me an email. I can see Mac has still got his daughter on his knee. Or at least I hope it's his daughter. Boo-hoo, just when Nalbandian was beginning to get his act together, the rain returns. I predicted that, you know.

Second set: Hewitt* 3 - 2 Nalbandian (Sets: 1 - 0)
Hewitt wins the game 40-30. He's looking very business-like, if slightly spotty. I need the loo. "I'm watching the game in the USA and during the rain break McEnroe's daughter joined him in the commentary box and sat on his lap for a couple of minutes," says Neil Clough who is president of his company. "As touching as this father/daughter bonding session was, I couldn't help but see it as the latest volley in his ongoing battle with (ex-missus) Tatum. Interesting stuff...infinitely more so than the tennis." Indeed. Though Nalbandian is at least putting up some opposition now. It's certainly getting the pock-marked Argentine ambassador worked up. Apologies if that too is discriminatory, Luciano.

Second set: Hewitt 2 - 2 Nalbandian* (Sets: 1 - 0)
Pow! Nalbandian wins another game. Oof! Hewitt looks a little peeved. "I'm definitely not from Clapham, although I did use to drive through Clapham Common on cross-London trips in the days before the M25 was built," writes Bob Cushion. "Be that as it may, I've just been talking to a Greek Cypriot friend here in Dubai whose life ambition is to go to Wimbledon, and he asked me how much it would cost to get a ticket for the men's final. I had no idea, I suppose there must be some available from ticket touts. Have you got any idea, or has anyone else, how much one would be?" I think the going rate is £17,657.13. I've got the 13p if that helps.

Second set: Hewitt* 2 - 1 Nalbandian (Sets: 1 - 0)
Two more break points to Nalbandian. And would you Adam and Eve it, he breaks the Australian. And what a way to do it. In one of those ooh-aah rallies that has the crowd a-gasping, David plays the following shots: One rubbish lob, a better one, a top-spin forehand, a drop volley, then a lob volley to win. Luverly-jubberly. Luciano from Argentina writes: "Your commentaries are quite discriminatory."

Second set: Hewitt 2 - 0 Nalbandian* (Sets: 1 - 0)
Well that break clearly did Nalbandian no good at all. He's still rubbish and goes 0-40 down. But credit where it's due, a few corking rallies later, it's deuce. Then criticism where it's due, he messes up the next two points and Hewitt has the early break. Will Riley is fascinated by the fact that spiders go bald if you stroke them. I'd like to know what kind of evidence he can provide to substantiate this outrageous claim.

3.04pm: Streaker update
Referee Alan Mills is not amused. Some fella has just cavorted around the court for a few minutes much to the amusement of all. It even caused a stir in the Royal Box, so to speak. Three people came out with red rags to cover his lack of modesty, but he hurdled the net and started moonwalking away. Genius.

3pm: Rain delay update
Hang on, the rain has stopped and they're taking the covers back off. I'm no Bill Giles (more Sian Phillips actually), but I'm forcasting more rain breaks ahead. No matter, I have my crossword. Simon Brewer, who also claims to be from Clapham (though frankly I don't believe him) says there's someone in the Argentine's box with a very nasty mullet. He thinks it's Nalbandian's playing partner. "Mullets shouldn't be allowed on Centre Court," he says. That's a very right wing stance, Simon. A question: do I refer to Nalbandian as an Argentine or an Argentinian? And what's the difference? We should be back on in a few minutes, I reckon. Hopefully, for the sake of tennis, the break should do Nalbandian the power of good.

Second set: Hewitt* 1 - 0 Nalbandian (Sets: 1 - 0)
Now then David, that's a bit more like it. He wins himself a few more break points by playing with more confidence. Perhaps he is beginning afresh. He's not managing to convert any of them though. Will Riley has written in. I suspect he also might be from Clapham. All Wimbers fans are. Must be something of a bind that Henley Royal Regatta is on over the same weekend, I'd imagine. "Has Jade been let out on day release?" he asks. "She and Kim are awfully similar." That's not kind, William. It's starting to rain and play is suspended. Yawn. Send me some emails to keep me awake. And can someone put the kettle on?

First set: Hewitt 6 - 1 Nalbandian*
Poor David. It's a little unfair that his first match on Centre Court happens to be the final. Still, if he keeps going like this the ordeal shouldn't last too long. He gives Hewitt three set points. Then he saves one with a diving volley at the net before gooning up big time with his third double-fault. 33 minutes, 16 unforced errors, one measley game - these are not good stats, David, however pretty Boris thinks Victoria is.

First set: Hewitt* 5 - 1 Nalbandian
Guy Lavarack, also from Clapham, thinks Nalbandian could at least have had a shave for his big day at Wimbledon. He disapproves. I agree Guy. Personal grooming is as important as a decent drop volley in the modern game. Goodness gracious me! Nalbandian forces a break point against the Hweitt serve. Nay, two! Maybe even three - I wasn't concentrating. But it all comes to no avail: Hewitt wins.

First set: Hewitt 4 - 1 Nalbandian*
The crowd are applauding every point Nalbandian wins. Let's just say they're not wearing out their hands too much, but at last he has his name on the board. Richard Skinner from Clapham wonders who is more attractive: Jade from Big Brother or Hewitt's girlfriend, Kim? He also thinks that this was a sympathy game from Hewitt.

First set: Hewitt* 4 - 0 Nalbandian
The veteran Australian at 21 beats his junior 20-year-old opponent with alarming ease, 40-0. He looks in very commanding form indeed. Nalbandian is staring at his shoes lots. He looks a little embarrassed to be there. It's a bit embarrassing to watch at the moment.

First set: Hewitt 3 - 0 Nalbandian*
A double-fault gives Hewitt a break point. Nalbandian has very dodgy stubble indeed. He wrestles it back, but Hewitt once more seizes the advantage and steals the game with a flashing cross-court backhand. This first set looks done and dusted. I am eating vegetarian quiche for lunch out of a polysterene box, thanks for asking Andy Williams. I thought it was pizza when I bought it.

First set: Hewitt* 2 - 0 Nalbandian
One thing is for sure, there are going to be rallies ago-go with these two baseliners, which should hopefully make for an interesting match. Nalbandian has started very badly. "But at least he has a beautiful girlfriend," I hear the BBC's Boris Becker say.

First set: Hewitt 1 - 0 Nalbandian*
Oh dear. Nalbandian's first point on Centre Court was a double-fault. Not the most auspicious of starts for the nervy Argentine, and he goes on to lose his first service game 30-40. I'm trying to eat my lunch at the same time. It's now gone cold.

A wee bit of preamble
This is David Nalbandian's first senior tournament on grass. He's never played on Centre Court, but he has at least never lost at Wimbledon. This is Lleyton Hewitt's first Wimbledon final. He lost just two sets en route, both in that problemtic quarter-final.

Lleyton heads into history
July 9 2002


Australia's first Wimbledon winner in 15 years appreciates the gravity of his success, writes Linda Pearce in London.

Four or five months ago, after an untimely bout of chicken pox had ruined his Australian summer, Lleyton Hewitt had a feeling that had nothing to do with spots, fatigue or the pain of what might have been had illness not truncated his visit to Melbourne Park.

It was about Wimbledon. Hewitt could not explain it, but he couldn't wait to get there.

"For some reason, I was really looking forward to Wimbledon this year. I just had a feeling," Hewitt recalled late on Sunday afternoon, before the significance of his first Wimbledon victory had fully struck home.

"You know, I could have bombed out in the first round," he admitted. "But there was something that was drawing me. I couldn't wait until Wimbledon started, basically. You know, that's a strange feeling to have when you're a baseliner coming onto grass."

It has never been his favourite surface, but Hewitt remembers watching Wimbledon from his grandparents' house in Adelaide as a six-year-old in Pat Cash's glory year of 1987. The Hewitt family soon started visiting Melbourne each year for the Australian Open, and that remains Lleyton's holy grail, but he knew what Wimbledon was and what it represented: the tradition, the prestige, Australia's success - all of that.

Hewitt had played at Wimbledon three times before this year and never passed the fourth round. When the 2002 draw was done he was to meet Jonas Bjorkman first, the man who defeated him last year, Nicholas Escude, again in the round of 16, then perhaps Roger Federer, Tim Henman and Andre Agassi or Pete Sampras after that. Not quite the draw from hell, but not far off.

Yet Federer's shock loss in the first round to qualifier Mario Ancic was perhaps the message Hewitt needed.

"It was a bit like the Australian Open, and and we made a point of that being a wake-up call and just getting the job done," said Hewitt's coach, Jason Stoltenberg. "Tournaments can happen like this, where a lot of guys go out early, and he had to make sure he was still standing at the end."

Hewitt had also modified his game from his infant attempts to mix up his grass game by chip-charging and sometimes serve-volleying.

"I went back. I said, 'the guys have got to play extremely well if they're going to beat me from the back of the court'," Hewitt said.

"I returned well, used my passing shots, my strengths as my edge, my quickness around the court. Basically, from that first year on, I've gone into the grasscourt tournaments and just played my game."

And this year, better than ever. Hewitt continued to work on his serve, which saved him so often over the past fortnight. He had the confidence that comes from having won a grand slam title, last year's US Open. And he had enough lead-up play on grass, by winning a third Queen's Club title, that he withdrew before the quarter-finals at the pre-Wimbledon week in Rosmalen, citing a stomach virus.

Things slowly, almost inevitably, began to fall into place. The top seed got past the challenging Bjorkman and the less threatening Gregory Carraz, Julian Knowle and Mikhail Youhnzy without dropping a set. He should have beaten Sjeng Schalken in the same fashion, too.

As his friend and fellow South Australian Mark Woodforde explains it: "He's so tenacious. You really wish you could get some younger kids and say look at this. You wish you could bottle it up and then just open it up and get a whiff of it, sort of like smelling salts, and say OK, 'essence of Lleyton'."

After a brilliant performance against Henman in the semis, and with just the grasscourt novice Nalbandian left, the title was almost Hewitt's.

Yet it still had to be won, and when it came to finals day, Hewitt was more nervous than he had been at Flushing Meadows 10 months ago as he prepared to play Pete Sampras in the US Open final.

The first set was a trouncing. Nalbandian had never been on centre court except during a specially granted warm-up, and was nervous and overawed.

His opponent settled slightly in the second but from 3-3, Hewitt won nine of the next 11 games. As Cash described it: "Lleyton was his usual ruthless self. There was nothing that was going to get in his way."

Hewitt double-faulted on his first match point, at 40-0, but when Nalbandian pushed a final forehand over the baseline, Hewitt threw himself on his back, then belted a ball joyously into the crowd. "It was a weird feeling. It was like a dream," he said.

"I sort of had to pinch myself to see if it was real or not out there. You know, to get to 40-0 up, I had to have another peep at the scoreboard to make sure I didn't celebrate too early."

Hewitt acknowledged his family and supporters, and then briefly sat down. Then he decided that 15 years had been long enough between Australians clambering up the stand and into the players' box to kiss his girlfriend and mother and embrace his father, friend and agent. So he clambered, smooched, hugged.

This was far from the best Wimbledon final, and may eventually be remembered as the day that serve-and-volley tennis died an ugly death on the lawns of SW19. The all-baseline affair was "a unique final, I think, more than anything", said Hewitt, who did not play a single serve-volley point in the entire tournament. "I think I tried to once," he said, "but I served a fault."

But there is no doubt the Champions Trophy went to a deserving winner, someone who appreciated the prize just as much as Goran Ivanesevic had 12 months before.

"It's a great piece of gold," said Hewitt. "I was just looking at all the names. You walk through onto centre court there, you see the honour board there, see all the great names that have won this tournament.

"When I got a hold of that trophy, I really wanted to have a look at all on the names on there. Nice to have my name underneath."

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PM applauds Hewitt's Wimbledon win
ROME|Published: Monday July 8, 8:05 AM


Prime Minister John Howard interrupted his European tour to ring and congratulate Lleyton Hewitt for winning Wimbledon.

Mr Howard learned of Hewitt's victory in the Wimbledon final while flying back to Rome from the Greek island of Crete.

The prime minister, who rang Hewitt to wish him well before the match against Argentina's David Nalbandian, was mid-flight when the pilot of his chartered aircraft broadcast the tennis result across the intercom system.

He and his entourage gave the world number one three cheers to mark his win.

On landing back in Rome, both Mr Howard and his wife Janette rang Hewitt to congratulate him.

Before calling, the prime minister said his message would be simple.

"Just warm congratulations and you've made millions of Australian sports lovers very happy," Mr Howard told reporters.

The prime minister said Hewitt was an outstanding young tennis player.

Mr Howard missed watching the game because of his program in Crete.

The visit included a tour of the ancient Knossos archaeological site and wreath-laying ceremonies to commemorate those who died in the World War II Battle of Crete.

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Breaking through for $250m career
By SHAUN PHILLIPS, sports affairs reporter
09jul02

LLEYTON Hewitt's Wimbledon breakthrough has put him on track for career earnings of $250 million.

Hewitt, 21, won $1.4 million plus rich sponsor bonuses for his centre-court demolition of David Nalbandian, but that's just a daub in the big financial picture.

Hewitt has earned an estimated $70 million in just four years.

Experts believe his on and off-court earnings will burst through the $20 million a year barrier.

He earned an estimated $16.5 million last year when he won his first grand slam event, the US Open, and became the youngest season-ending world No. 1.

"At his age he's got great potential to keep increasing his earnings significantly," Sponsorship Solutions' Craig Richards said.

According to Business Review Weekly's annual sport rich list, Hewitt's total earnings soared from $3.6 million in 2000 to $16.5 million last year.

Golfer Greg Norman was the leader on $48.2 million, almost exclusively from off-course earnings, while soccer star Harry Kewell snared $20 million.

Veteran American Andre Agassi was the highest-earning tennis player last year according to Forbes magazine, with about $33 million.

It has been a dizzying rise for Hewitt since he burst on to the world scene in 1998 when he won the Australian Hardcourt Championship at 16.

His management group Octagon sent out an invitation to the corporate sector yesterday declaring their charge to be the dominant force in international tennis.

"Take the opportunity to partner the youngest player in the history of the game ever to become the world No. 1 and the hottest property in Australian sport," it said.

Octagon's Rob Aivatoglou said the sky was the limit for Hewitt.

"It's unbelievable when you think he's won two grand slam (events) inside nine months, he's world No. 1 and he's only 21," Mr Aivatoglou said as he celebrated with the Hewitt entourage in London.

"This propels him to the very highest level in Australian sport. It puts him on a par with what Ian Thorpe is achieving."

A five-year deal with Nike signed in 2000 and worth $30 million is the jewel in Hewitt's off-court crown. The relationship is expected to be worth much more when it is renegotiated.

His contract with racquet manufacturer Yonex is believed to be worth about $25 million.

Hewitt's Wimbledon win took his prizemoney to $15 million.

Mr Aivatoglou said Hewitt's global popularity was rocketing.

Hewitt, who will reward himself with a short holiday, is due in Adelaide in September to spearhead Australia's Davis Cup clash against India.

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Street parade for Hewitt
From our wire services
08jul02


NEWLY-CROWNED Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt will be feted with a street parade on his return to his hometown of Adelaide.

South Australian Premier Mike Rann said a parade would be a more fitting way to honour Hewitt than a more formal state reception, as it would give all members of the public a chance to be involved.

"I just think it's really important for all of us to give a massive welcome to Lleyton Hewitt," Rann told ABC radio.

"Anyone winning Wimbledon is a great world achievement but to do it at his age (21) and do it so well is fantastic.

"His future is going to be huge."

Hewitt beat Argentinian David Nalbandian 6-1 6-3 6-2 in the final.

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Love him for his tennis, says Stoltenberg
July 9 2002


Lleyton Hewitt's coach Jason Stoltenberg has called on Australians to appreciate the new Wimbledon champion's tennis rather than criticise his combative personality.

Hewitt's straight sets win over Argentinian David Nalbandian in the final today won him his second grand slam title but the feisty 21-year-old still has a long way to go before completely winning over the Australian public.

"I'm not sure what's caused it or what's going to happen to improve it, I just wish people would sit back and appreciate the fight and the will to go out there and play for Australia every single time he has the chance," Stoltenberg said.

"In the heat of the moment people might say things or do things and if that's what's happened to him, that's a bit unjust. Just to sit back and enjoy the way he plays the game, that should be enough."

Stoltenberg said the intense on-court character will have no problems relaxing off the court and enjoying his Wimbledon triumph.

"He'll enjoy it all right. You see him on the court, he's pretty intense, but off the court I know that he's tickled pink, I know he is," Stoltenberg said.

"Off court he's quiet and low key and sticks to himself. On the court he's so feisty and it's just his natural fight that's inside him."

Stoltenberg believes coaching the most driven and competitive player he has known is one of the easiest jobs in tennis.

The 1996 Wimbledon semifinalist took on his first coaching assignment after Darren Cahill parted company with Hewitt following reported disagreements with the world No.1's parents.

Stoltenberg admitted at the time he felt uncomfortable taking over from a friend but was just as anxious about coaching a player who had recently become world No.1.

"I didn't know what to expect, starting the year at number in the world," he said.

"It's a bit tough coming in when you've got someone who can only go the one way.

"But he is good to coach because he's that good.

"You just point him in the right direction and he just does it, he does all the work. He makes me look good.

"He's pretty well self-motivated, you don't have to work on that side of him too much.

"He played great today and to win in straight sets is special."

Stoltenberg believes Hewitt would get better but said they would work on his serve.

AAP

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Hewitt reverts to strong points
By LEO SCHLINK
09jul02


AUSSIE Lleyton Hewitt remained faithful to the strengths that had carried him to great heights in his tennis career and another big reward was his first Wimbledon crown.

The feisty South Australian, renowned for unrivalled speed around the court, a blistering passing shot and a ruthless tenacity to scrap for every point, stubbornly resisted any changes to his grooved baseline game, banishing the convention that to succeed at Wimbledon he needed to be more attacking.

Hewitt's favourite ploy is to lure his opponent into error and, should the opportunity arise, lash out with a low-risk winner. It is the ultimate percentage tennis.

And his strategy worked spectacularly at Wimbledon where he won 21 of the 23 sets he contested to rise above a tournament of endless shocks.

"When I first came on, even after I won Adelaide that first year (1998), I started playing Queen's, just leading up to Wimbledon, I was actually trying to mix it up," he said.

"I think I was playing the wrong style of game -- come to the net, chip-charge -- it wasn't working.

"I went back. I said, 'The guys have got to play extremely well if they're going to beat me from the back of the court'.

"I returned well, used my passing shot, my strengths and my edge, my quickness around the court.

"Basically from that year on, I've gone into Queen's and just played my game.

"My serve has got me out of a lot of trouble the last few years in big tournaments. When you start winning Queen's a few years in a row, like I have now, then you start realising you're a real contender for the big one a couple weeks down the track."

He was virtually untroubled by leg-weary Argentine David Nalbandian, whose first and last service games ended with double faults. Hewitt won 101 of the 168 points, broke serve eight times to two, hit 30 winners to 12 and restricted himself to 25 unforced errors to Nalbandian's 41 as class told.

The suspicion this would be one match too far for 28th seed Nalbandian, who was playing his first senior grasscourt tournament, was confirmed three games into the match by which time he had already dropped serve twice. And there was no way back despite hints of a midmatch recovery.

Hewitt was characteristically ruthless, scrapping tenaciously for every point. Nalbandian was mentally destroyed and then physically punished.

"Lleyton is No. 1, he can make it perfect," Nalbandian said. "He is difficult, a very strong man. He's fast. He's difficult to do a mistake because if you do just one mistake, he take it."

Nalbandian predicted Hewitt could dominate Wimbledon in the vein of Bjorn Borg or Pete Sampras, such is his mental strength, ambition, fitness and outstanding skill -- a vastly underrated facet of his game lost on his detractors.

Hewitt, who begins preparations for a defence of the US Open next month, is not so convinced he will reign over the sport.

"Oh, I hope so, but I haven't really thought about it at the moment," he said. "If I can play this well for other grand slams, then I can't see why not. But at the moment, I don't really care."

He said he was again urged to victory by dual finalist Pat Rafter.

"He called me again this morning to wish me all the best. 'Go out there and do it for Australia'," Hewitt said. "It's a great thing to have. A guy who I have looked up to for so many years, been in awe of him, to go out of his way to give me a call the last couple of days.

"Hopefully he comes back."

Monday July 8, 12:04 PM
Wimbledon-Champion Hewitt euphoric after runaway victory
By Ossian Shine


LONDON (Reuters) - Euphoric champion Lleyton Hewitt has woken after a night of Wimbledon celebrations to declare "If I don't win another tournament again, it won't matter."

The Australian swapped his tracksuit for a tuxedo to celebrate his maiden grasscourt grand slam crown at the Wimbledon ball, just hours after crushing Argentine David Nalbandian 6-1 6-3 6-2 in the most one-sided final for 18 years.

The 21-year-old -- the first Australian to win Wimbledon since 1987 -- carried on partying at his south west London base with "a few mates and a few beers".

"I slept pretty well last night& for a couple of hours," he smiled as he glanced at newspaper headlines spread out before him at his breakfast table.

"It is starting to sink in now. Yesterday everything was a little bit unclear, it is a hard thing to describe.

"I've only just started believing it and realising it actually happened. You dream about winning this tournament. They don't come any bigger than Wimbledon.

"Pat Cash won it last in 1987. You don't know if you are going to get an opportunity to win it again. I am going to enjoy this for as long as I can.

"To be a member of the All England Club is great. I don't know if I will be wearing the club tie, though. I haven't worn a tie since I was at school.
"But now I will be able to come back here when I am 65 and sit in the members' stand and watch. It's great."

OVERWHELMED

The world number one, who does not return home until after the defence of his U.S. Open crown in September, spent the early hours on the phone to some friends and radio stations back home, and he is overwhelmed by the Australian reception.

"I haven't spoken to too many people, but the ones I have spoken to said the country has gone absolutely crazy.

"When you start your career you would love to win a grand slam, get to world number one and win the Davis Cup.

"Now I have won two grand slams and one is Wimbledon which is probably the biggest tournament in the world."

Although Hewitt says it would not be "the end of the world" if he does not win another tournament, that scenario is an extremely unlikely one as he threatens to dominate the sport for years to come.
Certainly that is something the young Australian would love.

"To dominate tennis like Tiger Woods has dominated golf would be amazing," he said, referring to his sporting hero.

"But what he has done it just incredible. Sure, I have some pressure and expectation on me but it's nothing compared to him.

"I thrive on the pressure, though, I'm certainly not shy of it."

Hewitt feels there is plenty of room for improvement, which is not good news for anyone with any designs on the majors in the next few years.

"I have won all these big tournaments now but I still feel there are areas I can work on. There are definitely areas I can make better and add another dimension to."

That, and his best friend's lucky shirt, should see Hewitt safe fo