ATP Finals Flashback: Roger Federer thumps Lleyton Hewitt to defend the crown

Roger Federer proved his immense talent and quality in 2003, winning his first Major crown at Wimbledon and making a massive step towards the no. 1 spot. Roger claimed his first Masters Cup in Houston to end the season on a high note before returning even stronger in 2004, clinching 74 out of 80 matches and lifting three Major crowns to become world no. 1 after Melbourne at the beginning of the season. After a surprising loss to Tomas Berdych at the Olympics in Athens, Federer would enter only three tournaments by the end of the season, conquering the US Open, Bangkok and the Masters Cup to wrap up the year with 11 trophies on his tally. The Masters Cup returned to Houston for the second and last time, and it was all about the Swiss star, like 12 months ago when he defeated Andre Agassi in the final. Federer lost only one set in five clashes against Carlos Moya in the round-robin stage, reaching the final after a solid win over Marat Safin in the semis and the second-set tie break that saw 38 points!

Despite losing to Roger in the group stage, Lleyton Hewitt advanced into the title match where the Swiss proved to be too strong, toppling the Aussie 6-3, 6-2 in 67 minutes. The rain plagued the event, and the final had to be reduced to the best-of-three format for the first time since 1979 to finish as quickly as possible. These two were among the best players of their generation, and it was already the 15th meeting, with Roger taking an 8-7 lead in the rivalry. Before 2004, Lleyton had the upper hand in the encounters against the Swiss, taking seven out of the first nine before Roger turned the tide that season, grabbing six wins against Hewitt and losing just two more matches against the Adelaide native before Lleyton retired! A few months earlier, Federer took down Hewitt 6-0, 7-6, 6-0 in the US Open final, in what had been one of the most one-sided finals in New York in the Open era. This Houston match turned into a similar affair, as Roger dominated from start to finish to defend the title.

He lost 11 points in nine service games, never facing a deuce or a break point, creating the freedom to attack on the return and keeping the pressure on Lleyton, who couldn't endure it. The Aussie served at 51%, and that could only mean trouble for him, dropping almost half of the points behind the initial shot and offering Roger eight break chances.

In 2004, Roger Federer defended the Masters Cup title over Lleyton Hewitt.

Federer converted three of those, which was more than enough to safely bring the match home, having the upper hand from the opening games and never slowing down. Roger's aggression proved to be too much to handle for Lleyton, who failed to impose his shots and put the pressure on rival's backhand, drawing only 12 mistakes from Federer's weaker wing. That couldn't make the difference, as Roger stayed in most rallies when Hewitt tried to target his backhand, sending them across the net with depth and precision that allowed him to prolong the points and earn the opportunity to strike with his forehand.

Lleyton was unable to move Roger around the court with his persistent groundstrokes, as the Swiss was on almost every ball and had a low number of forced errors. Untroubled on serve, Federer had the opportunity to play with more risk in the rallies, outplaying Lleyton in the winners department, which pretty much earned the victory for him since they had a similar number of mistakes. World no. 1 had a 17-11 advantage in service winners and even more significant 19-7 one in the field's direct points, wrapping up the encounter with twice as many winners than his opponent. His forehand worked great and was comfortable at the net, adding seven volley winners to his tally. Lleyton could hit only seven winners from the court in the entire clash, a nice indicator of how inferior he was in the exchanges and how well was Roger's court-coverage. Federer had 16 unforced errors, ten from his backhand, but that didn't bother him much as long as he had so many winners.

The initial groundstroke made a great difference in Federer's favor, as he had a 45-21 lead in the points up to four strokes. He could fire up the point right on, while Hewitt needed some time to settle into the rally and try to impose his shots, something Roger just wasn't willing to let him do. The mid-range points from five to eight strokes also finished noticeably on Roger's side, clinching 21 out of 30. Hewitt won ten of the 16 longest exchanges, far from enough to help him achieve a more decent result. Interestingly, Hewitt and Federer were the dominant figures at the Masters Cup in the early 2000s.

Lleyton lifted the trophy in 2001 and 2002, and Roger took charge in the following two years. Federer broke in the second game of the match and carried that advantage home after losing only five points in five service games, wrapping up the set at 5-3 with a forehand winner. Lleyton fended off three break chances in the first game of the second set, staying in touch until 2-2 when he netted a backhand to hand the service game to Federer. The Swiss never looked back, rattling off the last five games from 1-2 and sealing the deal with a service winner in game eight for his second consecutive Masters Cup crown.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/36eFOUC