Roger Federer recalls shocking loss to Lleyton Hewitt
In a recent interview, Roger Federer recalled his five-set 2003 Australian Open semifinal loss to Lleyton Hewitt. The Swiss player was up two sets to love and he got very close to reach the final, then he eventually lost. 15 years after, looking back to that match, the Basel native said: “In the rivalry with him that match definitely helped because I was able to lead by two sets to love and a break. For me to play that kind of tennis in a big-time match against Lleyton, who has beaten me so many times before, showed me that I was on the right track. That was an important step, a marker, like beating Pete Sampras at Wimbledon, like beating (Marat) Safin in the final at Hamburg, getting to top 10, winning your first major against (Mark) Philippoussis at Wimbledon.'
Federer believes that all his rivalries helped him to become a better player. Some of his biggest clashes came against his biggest rivals, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, but that's not all: 'As you play these matches, you progress. Lleyton, for me, along with David Nalbandian and those other baseliners was just a hard nut to crack because they were just so good. They would expose my backhand, my weaker side, and I had to come to terms on how I was going to play them from the baseline.'
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from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2SwbATN
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