For two sets and 10 games, it seemed as though the only way a
steady Lleyton Hewitt was going to lose the Mercedes-Benz Cup final
was if Wayne Ferreira strung together some of his best tennis
ever.
However, after three double faults and a break of serve later,
Hewitt had saved Ferreira some of the trouble and beaten
himself.
By losing serve at 5-5 in the third set, Hewitt gave Ferreira a
golden opportunity, and he took advantage of it, winning the match
6-3, 4-6, 7-5 for his first Association of Tennis Professionals
title since November 2000.
“I played a tough competitor today, and I really brought
it to him,” said Ferreira, who became the first South African
to win the tournament in its 77-year history.
In a tense third set, it appeared as though Ferreira would be
the one to crack. Hewitt had three match points on Ferreira’s
serve at 4-5, but was unable to convert on any of them.
“I had done such a good job until then,” Ferreira
said. “If I went down, I knew I put up a good
effort.”
But instead of going down, he stormed back. At 15-40 he hit an
ace out wide, and on the next point, hit a blistering forehand for
a winner off Hewitt’s return.
Hewitt had another break point, but Ferreira painted the lines
on consecutive groundstrokes.
“The opportunities weren’t always in my
control,” Hewitt said after the match. “He was too good
on the big points.”
Although neither player is known for a big serve, they both used
it as a weapon to get out of trouble.
Ferreira faced 12 break points but came up with 19 aces and
numerous service winners, allowing Hewitt to only convert on two of
them. Ferreira had 15 break points of his own, but Hewitt came up
with 13 aces. Yet when Hewitt needed an ace the most, he tossed in
double faults.
“I went for my serve a little bit,” Hewitt said.
“Wayne was cracking everything so I went for the cheap point
and lost the game because of it.”
Ferreira’s run during this tournament was considered
surprising, even to himself. He had only played one match since
going down with a groin injury in the third round of the French
Open. After taking out second-seeded Sebastian Grosjean in the
quarterfinals and fifth-seeded Mark Philippoussis in the
semifinals, he had already surpassed his own expectations.
“I’m over the moon right now,” Ferreria said.
“I shouldn’t have even been playing tournaments with my
injury.”
Ferreria had practiced with Hewitt the week before the
tournament in Northern California. Although Hewitt felt he had
gotten some good practice in, he felt Ferreira’s injury was
still holding him back.
“If you had asked whether he could win five matches in
singles at the beginning of the week, I would have said no
way,” Hewitt said.
At the outset of the match, Hewitt seemed like he could take
control easily, picking up two break point chances in the very
first game. However, Ferreira came back with two service winners
and held on.
Ferreira picked up the first and only break of the first set at
3-4. In the second set, both players traded breaks early. At 4-5,
Ferreira appeared to be ready to even the set but then seemingly
collapsed.
Serving 40-0, he double faulted and netted two volleys in the
game to give Hewitt the set.
Hewitt came out firing in the third set, coming up with three
aces in his first service game, and then having a break point
opportunity on Ferreira’s serve.
However, he could not convert on any of his six break point
chances in the set.
“It was a bit disappointing. I had so many chances, and I
couldn’t take them,” Hewitt said. “I just hope
that if it was a Grand Slam final, I’d be able to take those
chances.”
This was not the first time Ferreira has beaten Hewitt for a
tournament title. Ferreira’s past tournament title came in an
epic five-set battle against him at the Tennis Masters in
Stuttgart. In the past three years, though, Hewitt has risen to
become the number one player in the world while Ferreira turned 31
and seemed to be past his prime. He is a part of the Andre Agassi,
Pete Sampras and Michael Chang generation, and now he joins them as
a Mercedes-Benz Cup champion.
“Every time I walk down that hall there, I see the past
champions (of this tournament). They’re the greatest players
in tennis and to have my name next to theirs is a
privilege.”