Hewitt books Henman date
 
World number one Lleyton Hewitt scraped into the semi-finals with a bruising five-set victory over Holland's Sjeng Schalken.

Having survived 6-2 6-2 6-7 1-6 7-5, top seed Hewitt will now meet Britain's Tim Henman, the fourth seed, in Friday's semi-finals.

A relieved Hewitt said: "I thought I should have been in the locker room a long time ago.

"Sjeng played some great tennis and in the end my fighting spirit got me through."

After blowing four match points to claim a routine 6-2 6-2 7-5 win, the 21-year-old Hewitt was forced to dig deeper than he could ever have imagined after the first two sets.

With Hewitt still fretting over 11 wasted break points in the third set, Schalken made the most of his reprieve - and an umpire's over-rule on a tight line call - to win the third-set tiebreak.

"I was on fire for the first two sets," said Hewitt.

"I must have had about 500 break points in the third set but to his credit I didn't have too many chances on those break points.

"And the match turned - he got confident, stopped making mistakes and it turned into a dog fight."

Having given up the first set of his 2002 Wimbledon challenge, the Australian went to pieces in the fourth set.

He lost his serve to give the 25-year-old Schalken a 3-1 lead, which he soon converted into a 5-1 cushion with another break before levelling the match.

Schalken then broke Hewitt again to lead the final set 2-1, but the tenacious Australian struck back and at 5-5 it was Schalken who blinked first - hitting wide after nearly four hours on court.

 

Hewitt hangs on
Sportal
After holding four match points in the third set, Lleyton Hewitt has been forced to fight out a five set quarter-final before overcoming Dutchman Sjeng Schalken at Wimbledon.

The 6-2 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 1-6 7-5 victory has put Hewitt through to a semi-final clash with British fourth seed Tim Henman, who accounted for Brazilian Andre Sa 6-3 5-7 6-4 6-3.

Hewitt was right on top for the first two sets, breaking Schalken’s serve five times, but then was unable to convert numerous chances in the third set, which the 18th-seeded Dutchman eventually won in a tiebreak.

Schalken then dominated the fourth set as the top seed looked a shadow of the player who was almost error-free earlier in the match.

The pair swapped four successive service breaks early in the gripping deciding set, first Schalken breaking in the third game, then Hewitt breaking back in the fourth, followed by two more breaks which saw the pair back on terms at 3-3.

The next five games went with serve, although Hewitt saved a break point with an outstanding crosscourt forehand in the ninth game and another in the 11th before taking a 6-5 lead.

With Schalken serving to stay in the match, Hewitt came up with one of the shots of the match, a down the line forehand running at full pace, to set up a fifth match point and this time the Dutchman’s final shot of a long rally was just wide.

“He played some incredible tennis in the third, fourth and fifth sets and in the end he was probably playing the better tennis, but I gutsed it out and the fighting spirit came through in the end,” Hewitt told the BBC straight after the match.

After breaking Schalken’s serve twice in the first set and three times in the second, it was Hewitt’s inability to convert break point opportunities in the third set that nearly cost him the match.

Twice - in the second and sixth games - he had Schalken down 0-40 and overall Hewitt held more than a dozen break points in the set, even before the decisive 12th game.

Trailing 5-6, Schalken was down 15-40 but saved both match points, followed by another two later in the game before finally holding to force a tiebreak.

Then in the tiebreak, with Hewitt serving at 3-4, he left a deep ball which was called out, only to have the chair umpire overrule and give a crucial mini-break to the Dutchman, who took full advantage as the Australian became more distracted.

Before he knew it, the fourth set was gone and the momentum had swung significantly.

 

Hewitt Hangs On To Beat Schalken
Ronald Atkin
Thursday, July 4, 2002

Top seed Lleyton Hewitt's procession through The Championships came close to ending today. The Australian, coasting along in his quarter-final against Sjeng Schalken of The Netherlands, missed four match points in the third set of what seemed a routine victory and almost two hours later squeaked through on the fifth match point, 6-2, 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 1-6, 7-5.

"Sjeng played some incredible tennis in the last three sets," said Hewitt afterwards. "He was playing better towards the end but I was able to guts it out. The old fighting spirit came out again."

It was certainly needed. Hewitt had not dropped a set in his first four matches, while for the 6ft 3in Schalken it was his first quarter-final in a Grand Slam.

The scenario was followed for the first two sets as Hewitt, who had beaten Schalken twice in the past month, at the French Open and Queen's, continued to dominate. The first set was over in 28 minutes, with the Dutchman dropping serve twice and committing 12 unforced errors.

Double-faults plagued Schalken's game (he had 11 in all) and his unwillingness to get to the net meant that he was inevitably finishing on the losing end of baseline rallies, too. The second set was just as one-sided and, when he captured it, Hewitt capered around the court, exulting.

The celebrations turned out to be premature. Schalken decided to try his luck at the net in the third set, with much more success. However, with a 6-5 lead and attacking the Dutch serve, Hewitt carved out four match points. He wasted three of them on errors and Schalken saved the other one with a smash.

If that shook Hewitt's confidence, there was worse to come. Trailing 3-4 in the tie-break, he was the victim of an overrule by umpire Javier Moreno-Perez that put him 3-5 down. Hewitt raged at the official, saying "I hope you feel good about that", and, still clearly upset, lost the tie-break by seven points to five.

Back in contention, Schalken immediately took an injury time-out, being treated for blisters on his left foot. Whatever was in trainer Bill Norris's spray did the Dutchman no harm and, with two breaks of serve, he wrapped up the fourth set in 38 minutes.

The deciding set was a nail-biting affair, with four successive service breaks early on. When Schalken went in front 2-1, he found himself ahead for the first time in the match. More crucially, he had a break point for a 5-4 lead that would have left him serving for the match, but he missed it when a backhand flew long.

There was another break point, also missed, at 5-5 before Hewitt steadied the ship and got to his fifth match point, an hour and 52 minutes after having had his first, with a glorious running forehand down the line. He fell to his knees in joy and relief as his opponent then drove a backhand an inch or so wide. It was Schalken's 66th unforced error.