[情報]Shanghai Emperor :)
嗯...文章滿長的... 要有心理準備
Shanghai Emperor
By Richard Evans
www.tennisweek.com
12/28/2002
Lleyton Hewitt, along with the people of Shanghai, ensured that the 2002
men's circuit would end on a climactic note in a specially-constructed
Expo Hall on the edge of this amazing city, with the 21-year-old
Australian sowing the seeds of a dynasty as he produced another
performance of awesome intensity, guts and skill.
Nearly 10,000 people, filling every corner of the stadium, rose to
acclaim Hewitt as he retained the Tennis Masters Cup trophy he had won
in Sydney 12 months before and now had won with a 7-5, 7-5, 2-6, 2-6,
6-4 victory over the remaining Spaniard (of the three who began the
tournament), Juan Carlos Ferrero, after trailing 1-3 in the final set.
"Mind over matter" should be the message next time anyone bothers to
make Hewitt a T-shirt. This triumph again showed Hewitt's head ruling
that scrawny little frame, which, seemingly, does not have the physical
resources to go on covering the court at the speed that its master
demands.
The workload required to survive the three-match round-robin phase and
then win two more matches against the top-ranked players in the world
makes the Tennis Masters Cup the truest examination of a player's
abilities that exists on the tour. The fact that it is possible to lose
a match and still win is balanced by the strength of the field. An easy
draw does not exist. This is the creme de la creme, and the cream is
rich indeed.
But before we analyze Hewitt's achievement further, it must be noted
that he could not have won without a selfless show of professionalism
and typical Spanish pride from Carlos Moya. As so frequently happens
with a round-robin format, the last round of matches contained one in
which a player did not have to win to qualify for the semifinals. As the
only player in the Red Group to have won both his first two matches and
not dropped a set, Moya was guaranteed a place at the Masters Cup table
for four.
So would he give his best? The temptation to just go through the motions
and lose 6-4, 6-4 was considerable. For a start, Moya was due to play a
friend and fellow Spaniard in Albert Costa. If Moya let Costa win,
Hewitt would be out and Costa would be in the semifinal. From Moya's
personal point of view, that would be an advantage. Even though he had
beaten the Australian 6-4, 7-5 on the Wednesday, he knew Hewitt would be
a tougher opponent than Costa should they meet in the final. And then
there was the fatigue factor. The last thing Moya needed the day before
the semifinals was a protracted battle on a medium-slow Greenset court
against a player who rarely misses a ball.
But, unhappily for Moya, that was precisely what happened. Leaving their
friendship in the locker room, both men honored the game they play so
well by competing heart and soul to the very limits of their ability.
After winning a rugged first set on the breaker 9-7, Moya lost the
second 6-3 and could have quietly subsided in the third. But he refused
to take the easy option and put himself through more grueling back court
rallies before finally breaking through to win the third 6-4. It had
taken him more than two hours, and against Ferrero the next day, it
possibly cost him the match.
In the semifinal, Moya won the first set in another tough first-set
tiebreak 8-6, just as he had against Costa, but Ferrero had more weapons
. After taking the second set 6-4, the younger Spaniard struck in the
crucial seventh game of the third. Moya, looking weary, went 0-40 down,
saved two of the break points and then, coming in, saw Ferrero crack a s
uperb forehand cross winner off his backhand volley.
In the 10th game, Ferrero double faulted for 15-30, but Moya did not
have enough energy to make the most of the gift. When he failed to move
in for a Ferrero drop volley, it was all over. At the very least, Hewitt
owes Moya a Christmas card.
Having been thrown the lifeline, Hewitt was, of course, in no mood to
let go. But he had to hold on tight. In a remarkable semifinal battle
Hewitt emerged as a 7-5, 5-7, 7-5 winner over Roger Federer after the
Swiss had led 5-2 in the first set, missed four set points at 5-4 on
Hewitt's serve and then had been unable to grab any one of three break b
ack points after he lost his own serve in the 11th game.
The manner in which Hewitt saved the first of the set points summed up
the way the Australian faced adversity throughout the week. After
hammering two backhands deep to Federer's backhand, he came charging in
and slapped away a forehand crosscourt volley. He saved another with a
stop volley and then came up with a wonderful angle off the ground to
create a forehand winner off a third.
It was punch and counter-punch between the game's most naturally
talented player and the game's greatest winner. The second set contained
five breaks of serve and ended when Hewitt double faulted to go down
set point at 5-6. At 3-3 in the third, both players had won 103 points
each, and there was no let up in standard until the sheer effort and
pressure on both men started to affect the unforced error count. Having
broken when Federer netted a backhand to go 5-4 down, Hewitt then double
faulted on his first match point and allowed the Swiss to convert on
his 21st break point (only four of which had been won) when he plopped a
forehand into the net.
Federer should have been buoyed by stopping Hewitt in the act of serving
for the match, but his response highlighted the mental difference
between the two men. Two consecutive double faults cost Federer his
serve at love and, given a second chance, Hewitt squeaked through after
another double had put his serve in jeopardy.
So Moya and Federer, the two players who had dominated the round-robin
segment with 3-0 records in matches and 6-1 records in sets, both failed
to build on those achievements and reach the final. For Moya, there was
less to fret about than Federer. The young Swiss continually fails to
bank the inheritance nature has put at his disposal, and he will have to
start turning talent into titles in 2003 before psychological scars
start to become permanent. Moya, however, has no worries on that score.
A French Open champion and world No. 1 before back problems struck, the
man from Mallorca is back at his best and was thrilled to have made the
last eight, even if he was lucky to escape from six match points down
against Sebastien Grosjean in Paris in a match that could have put him
out of Shanghai and Tim Henman in.
The form Moya and Federer showed earlier in the week only made the
Hewitt phenomenon all the more bewildering. By his own admission, he had
not been playing at his best and was, frankly, outclassed by Moya in
the round robin. Physically, he had been struggling with the mysterious
viral infection that hits him from time to time when he lost to Marat
Safin in the final of the Masters Series in Paris two weeks before.
Hewitt said he was feeling better at Shanghai, but still not great.
Heaven help his opponents when he feels 100 percent.:)
When I asked him how he felt he was going to shape up for the final,
he replied, "Good question. Your guess is probably as good as mine. To
tell you the truth, I'm not quite sure how I got through the last couple
of matches. They were very physically demanding, and I think I went
through the pain barrier against both those guys."
Hewitt was referring to his last round-robin match against Safin, whom
he beat 6-4 in the third after the Russian had produced easily his best
tennis of a disappointing week, as well as his victory over Federer. But
24 hours later, Hewitt was back in the press tent trying to explain how
he had suddenly discovered a first serve at 1-3 down in the fifth
against Ferrero, after being outplayed for two-and-a-half sets.
"Don't know, mate," he replied with a grin. "I hate to lose. I really
don't know how to put it other than that. Up until 1-3, my legs were so
tired they weren't giving me the lift off to make the first serve. And
then suddenly I found some extra strength from somewhere."
From where, indeed, is the question. It is an extraordinary attribute,
this ability to override physical fatigue with mental strength. People
in the grip of fear manage it. Many of us can run as fast as Michael
Johnson with a rhino on our tail. But Hewitt does not so much fear
defeat as crave victory. He demands it of himself and simply won't take
no for an answer.
So, mysteriously, the first serve-which, it must be said has been absent
an awful lot this year-returned, and for almost the first time in the
match, Hewitt was able to produce an ace to win the fifth game of that
final set at love. Then he set about the Ferrero serve and, after a long
rally on break point, came charging in to put away a volley. Three-all.
Hewitt moved ahead 5-4 by producing another love service game-nothing
wrong with the first serve now-and then Ferrero flunked it.
He is a fine, elegant stroke maker with a devastating forehand this Juan
Carlos, but he is not yet ready to be anointed king.(希望他再多加加油嘍
) He froze against Costa in the final of the French Open and now, at the
sharp end of another big final, he couldn't handle the pressure. An off
forehand, his killer shot, flew wide. A backhand went into the net.
Suddenly, Hewitt was dancing towards the net with a look of stark
incredulity on his face. For a few seconds I think he surprised himself.
Such a short time before he had been sliding towards defeat and now, su
ddenly, he was the champion again.（呵...這就是沒心臟的Hewitt會做出來的
事吧）
The crowd was delirious. It had been wonderful to see it react so
joyously to great shotmaking, no matter who won or lost, and the
standard of tennis had risen to meet its expectations because players at
this level are performers, who become inspired in atmospheres like this
.
One who didn't, it must be said, was Andre Agassi. Arriving with the
No. 1 spot still in his sights, Agassi was in a very positive frame of
mind when he attended the roundtable press conference in his smart silk
Chinese jacket at the cavernous convention center, which sits amidst the
towering skyscrapers, one of which rises to 88 stories. He knew that if
he could win the title with Hewitt being knocked out before the final,
he could be sitting at the very pinnacle of the game at the age of 32.
But from the moment Agassi went down to Jiri Novak, 7-5, 6-1, on the
Wednesday afternoon, it was never in the cards. The tall Czech, who was
delighted to have made a late run for qualification (pipping Henman by
four points), played a very aggressive baseline game and Agassi was
candid in his assessment. "I was pretty much outplayed in every
department," he admitted, and then, revealing his state of mind, added,
"It always feels to me that if I lose, I should be out of the tournament
. But I have to view this as an opportunity, although it won't be easy
for me to turn this around and come back and play the next day. When I
was a junior, we had consolation draws for those who lost in the first
round. I was the worst consolation player."
That little revelation came as no surprise, but it was interesting to
hear Agassi say it. And although he did his very best to turn it around
and keep his hopes alive, Ferrero was too good for him when they met on
the Thursday-but not by much. Agassi showed the crowd what he was
capable of - everywhere, it seems, except Shanghai, where in two visits,
he has now lost three times out of three - by fighting back to take the
second set after losing the first on the tiebreak. But after saving
four match points, Agassi double faulted at 6-7 in the third-set breaker
and was out of there, citing a leg injury that had affected him in
Paris. So Thomas Johansson, first alternate to the elite eight field, at
least got to play a match, but went down in straight sets to Federer.
When the dust had settled, there was a sense of deja vu - albeit in a
different setting. Hewitt won the tournament and was world No. 1. His
achievement in Sydney was phenomenal. Here, one began to run out of
superlatives. Not because the young man is the greatest player of all
time, but because he is forcing himself into the company of those who
have been. Only Pete Sampras, Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Ivan Lendl,
Stefan Edberg and Bjorn Borg have finished at No. 1 in consecutive years
. Some company the kid is keeping.
On a broader scale, everyone concerned with the event in Shanghai - and
that means the ATP, ITF and Grand Slams - should take a bow. From all
accounts, it was Shanghai Vice Mayor Zhuo Muyao who drove the project
through, but tournament co-chairs Michael Luevano and Charles Smith used
their local knowledge to make it happen. And from the ATP's Sydney
office, Brad Drewett was instrumental in ensuring that from a technical
point of view, this version of the Tennis Masters Cup lived up to the
high standards set in Frankfurt, Hannover, Lisbon and Sydney. The
players loved it. So did we all.
--
※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.csie.ntu.edu.tw)
◆ From: 203.68.129.48
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