Gamewatch: Hewitt v Carraz June 26 2002
Game-by-game action from round two at Wimbledon as top seed Lleyton Hewitt is
made to work by French qualifier Gregory Carraz before coming through in
straight sets.
All the latest scores from Wimbledon
Commentary from BBC Radio Five Live
Commentary from Five Live Sports Extra
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Hewitt 6-4 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 Carraz
Hewitt opens with two aces but Carraz gamely battles back to 30-30 before
netting to give his opponent another match point. Hewitt converts it to win in
straight sets but will know he has been in a battle. And had Carraz not blown
his big chance in the second-set tie-break, then the top seed might have had an
even tougher fight on his hands.
Hewitt 6-4 7-6 (7-5) 5-2 Carraz
Hewitt looks for a swift finish as he holds two match points on the Carraz
serve. But the qualifier regains his poise to save both and then hold serve to
salvage some pride.
Hewitt 6-4 7-6 (7-5) 5-1 Carraz
Hewitt produces his eighth and ninth aces to move to within a game of victory.
Hewitt 6-4 7-6 (7-5) 4-1 Carraz
The tide is now turning firmly against Carraz as Hewitt breaks serve to love.
Carraz returns to his seat at the change of ends with an air of resignation
hanging over him.
Hewitt 6-4 7-6 (7-5) 3-1 Carraz
Hewitt cements his potentially decisive advantage by holding his own serve to
30.
Hewitt 6-4 7-6 (7-5) 2-1 Carraz
Carraz's double-fault count reaches double figures and he makes his 25th
unforced error as the strain of keeping pace with the relentless Hewitt begins
to tell. The world number one breaks serve at the second opportunity by passing
Carraz as he charges the net.
Hewitt 6-4 7-6 (7-5) 1-1 Carraz
Hewitt responds in kind, holding his serve to 15 with a routine game.
Hewitt 6-4 7-6 (7-5) 0-1 Carraz
Despite the disappointment of losing the tie-break, Carraz refuses to wilt and
holds serve in the opening game of the third set.
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Hewitt 6-4 7-6 (7-5) Carraz
Hewitt fights his way to a two-set lead after Carraz lets slip a golden chance
to square the match. The French qualifier grabs a mini-break on the fourth point
and at 5-4 has two serves to gain the two points he needs. But Carras misses a
simple smash and then sees what he thought was an ace called out before Hewitt
gives himself a set point by forcing an error in a long rally. Like the champion
he is, the Australian wastes no further time in taking the tie-break 7-5.
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Hewitt 6-4 6-6 Carraz
Another double fault threatens to undermine Carraz's confidence at 30-30 but he
recovers to force the tie-break.
Hewitt 6-4 6-5 Carraz
Hewitt thumps in his fifth ace of the match as he holds serve to love, closing
with another perfectly-weighted drop volley at the net.
Hewitt 6-4 5-5 Carraz
Just as he did at this point in the first set, Carraz double-faults to put
himself under pressure as he serves to stay in the set. But the 27-year-old
responds much more positively this time and wins the game on the high note of a
sixth ace.
Hewitt 6-4 5-4 Carraz
Carraz wins the longest rally of the match with a superb wrong-footing volley
across court but Hewitt takes the game with a slashing backhand.
Hewitt 6-4 4-4 Carraz
Carraz's policy of going for winners as early as possible in the rally looks
like seeing him come unstuck as he hits wide to go 0-30 down. But again he comes
back to square the set with some more good serve and volley play.
Hewitt 6-4 4-3 Carraz
Carraz continues to return well and gets to 30-30 but a brave second serve down
the centre line gives Hewitt the game.
Hewitt 6-4 3-3 Carraz
Carraz responds to the Hewitt challenge with a love game of his own, taking his
turn to get the better of some crowd-pleasing exchanges at the net.
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Hewitt 6-4 3-2 Carraz
Hewitt is again outstanding at the net, making room for a superb drop volley on
his way to another love game.
Hewitt 6-4 2-2 Carraz
Hewitt is now applying pressure to the Carraz serve and showing some deft
touches at the net. He races to a 0-30 lead but Carraz responds, powering back
to take the game by winning four successive points
Hewitt 6-4 2-1 Carraz
Fewer than half of Hewitt's first serves have landed in play but his second
delivery and recovery play are keeping him in front as he holds to 30.
Hewitt 6-4 1-1 Carraz
Carraz, ranked 168 in the world, is still bravely going for his shots but again
double-faults to give Hewitt a break point. But the qualifier saves the point
with a sharp half-volley and then takes the game courtesy of a net-cord.
Hewitt 6-4 1-0 Carraz
Hewitt has now found his timing and his pace around the court is beginning to
give him an edge. He holds serve to love, closing out the game with his third
ace of the match.
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Hewitt 6-4 Carraz
The Carraz serve reaches 125mph - just one mph slower than the fastest in the
tournament to date - but a third double fault and a good volley from Hewitt give
the Australian two set points. Carraz saves both but then misjudges a Hewitt
topspin forehand and hits into the net to lose the first set.
Hewitt 5-4 Carraz
Hewitt produces a more confident game to hold serve to love for the first time.
Hewitt 4-4 Carraz
Carraz takes the new balls and instantly produces his second double-fault. But
he follows up with back-to-back aces - the first timed at 123mph - and then
another deft volley as he recovers to hold serve to 15.
Hewitt 4-3 Carraz
Both players are now matching each other shot for shot, but a rare unforced
error from Carraz gives Hewitt the game to 15.
Hewitt 3-3 Carraz
Carraz is playing by far the more confident tennis and whistles through a second
successive service game to love.
Hewitt 3-2 Carraz
Hewitt's struggles with his first serve are giving Carraz a chance to attack the
second delivery. The Frenchman moves to 15-30 with an excellent cross-court
volley and three times holds a break point before the top seed finally restores
order with an ace.
Hewitt 2-2 Carraz
Carraz uses his height to power down a brace of aces and he holds serve to love
when Hewitt is wide with an attempted pass.
Hewitt 2-1 Carraz
Hewitt is still struggling to find his range on first serve but his
groundstrokes are good enough to win him the game to 30.
Hewitt 1-1 Carraz
Carraz begins by attacking the net behind some heavy serving. He too throws in a
double-fault but takes the game to 30 with a powerful ace.
Hewitt 1-0 Carraz
Hewitt serves first in front of a half-full Court One and opens with two
double-faults in the first three points. But he recovers with an ace and goes on
to win the game to 30
Hewitt's growing up on top of the world
www.supertennis.co.za
Lleyton Hewitt said on Tuesday that his quickfire rise to the top of the world
tennis rankings has matured him but warned his critics that age will not mellow
him.
"I think everyone learns things and you learn from experience," said
Hewitt after he coasted into the second round at Wimbledon on Tuesday with a
6-4, 7-5, 6-1 win against veteran Swede Jonas Bjorkman.
The Australian's ascent to the world number one spot and his brutal destruction
of Pete Sampras in the final of the US Open last year has come at a price.
He has as many fans as detractors and it has even been suggested by some inside
the sport that if there were bets on who would be the first player to get into a
punch-up in the locker room then he would most likely be the bookies' favourite.
"Everyone learns from mistakes and you move on. You get older and wiser and
you try and not let it happen again."
Hewitt has had numerous brushes in the past including finding himself at the
centre of a race row at the US Open last year when he asked for a linesman
officiating in his first round match with James Blake to be removed after he was
called for two faults.
The linesman and Blake are both black, but Hewitt insisted that his comments
were not racially motivated.
"I don't feel as if I'm in the spotlight more because I am the number one
player.
"I think it's because of the players I've beaten and how many big matches I
have won to get there.
"I can sit back and draw confidence from those wins."
Last year, Hewitt was beaten by Frenchman Nicolas Escude in the round of 16 at
Wimbledon, but he believes that the last 12 months, with his first Grand Slam
success and winning the Masters Cup, will stand him in good stead over the next
fortnight.
"It was always my dream growing up to win a Grand Slam or to get to number
one. To do it all by the age of 20 is just incredible.
You look and all the great players who have done it, the ones I looked up to
when I was little.
"To finally get there, even if it only happened for a day, you love
it."
His heroes when growing up certainly make interesting reading - Mats Wilander,
Stefan Edberg but especially Pat Rafter, himself a US Open winner as well as
two-time semi-finalist here.
"I came into this when I didn't know anything about the tour and he had
just won the US Open. I was put into the Australian team and I was able to learn
so much from a guy like Pat who had suffered so much pressure and of whom there
were so many expectations.
"He was always in the spotlight and I have looked up to him as much as
anyone else."
But if he never achieves a Wimbledon victory, he would never consider his career
to have been a failure.
"Look at Kuerten. He may never win Wimbledon but I would still call him one
of the greatest ever players.
"For me, all four Grand Slams are as big as each other. I don't think you
can rate someone who wins Wimbledon once to a guy who wins the French six times
or whatever."
Hewitt avoids cull of seeds
By Ossian Shine
LONDON (Reuters) - World number one Lleyton Hewitt restored order to a Wimbledon
draw peppered with big name casualties, dispatching France's Gregory Carraz 6-4
7-6 6-2 to reach the third round.
While the grand slam event woke up to a men's field missing seven-times champion
Pete Sampras, fans' favourite Andre Agassi and second seed Marat Safin, it still
boasts a top seed refusing to budge.
Hewitt, U.S. Open champion, is rumbling on regardless but is taking nothing for
granted even though the opposition has thinned out.
"There's still a lot of good players left in the tournament, you
know," the Australian said afterwards.
"What is it? I've won two matches so there's five to go."
In Carraz, Hewitt was facing a Frenchman playing in the second grand slam of his
life. But Carraz is no starry eyed teenager, he is a 27-year-old tempered and
toughened by years fighting his way round the lower circuit of the sport.
Wimbledon is the biggest stage of all, however, and although Hewitt does not
beat his opponents with power, he suffocates them under the weight of pressure.
On a windy court one, every game brought with it a quarter turn of the vice
handle until Carraz cracked.
The Frenchman stood up to Hewitt from the start but the Australian remained in
control and relatively calm.
It took 42 minutes before the first screamed 'C'mon' echoed around the vast
court one arena and by that stage Hewitt was a set and 1-0 ahead.
The second scream came in the 72nd minute and heralded an exquisite cross-court
backhand to nose Hewitt ahead in the second set, one he eventually stole on a
tiebreak.
That broke the Frenchman's spirit and despite his flamboyance and athleticism he
was powerless to stop Hewitt's march into the third round.
"I'd say I am pretty mentally tough," Hewitt said in an exercise in
understatement. "I'm probably one of the toughest guys around."
"You've got to be prepared to play your best tennis and put your 'A' game
on the line every time you step out there," he said.
Valiant Hewitt into third round
June 28 2002
Top seed Lleyton Hewitt held off a tough challenge from French tennis journeyman
Gregory Carraz yesterday to join Mark Philippoussis and Wayne Arthurs in the
third round of Wimbledon.
The 6-4 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 scoreline did not indicate how close the Frenchman, a
qualifier playing only his second grand slam in seven years as a professional,
got to the world No.1.
Carraz, largely unheard of and ranked 168th in the world, matched it with the
Australian in the first two sets before wilting in the third.
Even then, he did not hand Hewitt the match, saving two match points when down
5-1 to force the 21-year-old to serve for the match.
Carraz, 27, has won only a fraction of Hewitt's earnings - a little over
$US127,000 - but for the first two sets he played like a top 10 player,
threatening to break the Australian's serve early in the first and forcing him
to a tie-break in the second.
He was not afraid to attack the net and was helped by Hewitt's problems with his
serve.
Hewitt managed only 45 per cent of his first serves, compared to Carraz's 62 per
cent.
But Hewitt served 11 aces to Carraz's 10, while the Frenchman trebled the world
No.1's double-fault tally with 12.
But the match could have turned had a line call not gone against Carraz in the
tie-break.
The Frenchman was confident he had served an ace to give him a 6-4 lead but it
was called wide, despite the ball bringing up a puff of chalk.
Hewitt will play Julian Knowle in the third round on Saturday after the Austrian
knocked out 32nd seed Jarkko Nieminen today.
Hewitt continues on winning way
By Linda Pearce
June 28 2002
Sometimes, the matches you are expected to win most easily can cause the most
trouble, as little-known opponents have the element of surprise and very little
to lose.
So it was for Gregory Carraz, who was not considered to be in Lleyton Hewitt's
class, but was well in last night's Wimbledon second round match until the top
seed was finally able to put him away.
Hewitt eked out a 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 victory against the French qualifier, a
27-year-old, 168th-ranked battler who in almost nine years as a professional has
played in just two grand slam events - the last, the 1996 French Open, when
Hewitt was still a schoolboy in Adelaide - but opened without a hint of
nervousness or inferiority against the US Open champion.
Anyone oblivious to rankings and records could have believed for the first 90
minutes that Hewitt and Carraz were at a similar level, for it was just at the
important moments, late in sets, that Hewitt found something extra.
But that, of course, is why he is where he is, and why Carraz will now return to
qualifying and challenger events.
Serving at 4-5 in the first set, Carraz hit a double fault and an ill-advised
drop shot, while Hewitt remained steady and composed.
Carraz also led 5-2 in the tiebreak, and at 5-4 mis-hit a simple overhead that
could have given him a set point.
At 5-5, Carraz thought he had served an ace down the middle, and was unfortunate
not to win an overrule as Hewitt had done in similar circumstances a few points
earlier.
But Carraz eventually lost that point, too, and then missed narrowly with a
backhand down the line.
Somehow, he trailed two sets to love, when it could so easily have been one-
all.
Still, Hewitt dominated the third set to become the third Australian into the
third round.
Hewitt into third round
From our wire services
28jun02
LONDON: Top seed Lleyton Hewitt held off a tough challenge from French tennis
journeyman Gregory Carraz to join Mark Philippoussis and Wayne Arthurs in the
third round of Wimbledon.
The 6-4 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 scoreline did not indicate how close the Frenchman, a
qualifier playing only his second grand slam in seven years as a professional,
got to the world No.1.
Carraz, largely unheard of and ranked 168th in the world, matched it with the
Australian in the first two sets before wilting in the third.
Even then, he did not hand Hewitt the match, saving two match points when down
5-1 to force the 21-year-old to serve for the match.
Carraz, 27, has won only a fraction of Hewitt's earnings - a little over
$US127,000 - but for the first two sets he played like a top 10 player,
threatening to break the Australian's serve early in the first and forcing him
to a tie-break in the second.
He was not afraid to attack the net and was helped by Hewitt's problems with his
serve.
Hewitt managed only 45 per cent of his first serves, compared to Carraz's 62 per
cent.
But Hewitt served 11 aces to Carraz's 10, while the Frenchman trebled the world
No.1's double-fault tally with 12.
But the match could have turned had a line call not gone against Carraz in the
tie-break.
The Frenchman was confident he had served an ace to give him a 6-4 lead but it
was called wide, despite the ball bringing up a puff of chalk.
Hewitt will play Julian Knowle in the third round on Saturday after the Austrian
knocked out 32nd seed Jarkko Nieminen today.
Hewitt: Tournament hasn't been devalued
Lleyton Hewitt insists Wimbledon has not been devalued by the early loss of Pete
Sampras, Andre Agassi and Marat Safin.
But the top-seed, who beat Gregory Carraz 6-4 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 in the second round,
says it is disappointing for the fans.
He said: "It's a shame for the crowd and the spectators that they won't get
to see Pete or Andre walk out and play another match but it happened at the
Australian Open and it didn't hurt that competition at all.
"It was extraordinary to lose three of the biggest names around in just one
day but I'm not that surprised.
"The depth in men's tennis is incredible. If you have a slightly off day it
won't be good enough."
Hewitt added: "If I get to the final I don't care who I play. Qualifier,
second seed, lucky loser, it doesn't matter."
The Australian was also happy to get the better of Carraz who was excellent in
the first two sets but tailed off alarmingly in the third.
Hewitt said: "He didn't miss a serve in the tie-break until 5-4 but then he
didn't play the best point.
"I was going to make him play as many balls as it took and came up with a
good passing shot.
"He made me work very hard for the set but it was a huge turnaround within
two or three points."