Hewitt wins 20th title
Hewitt wins 20th title January 17, 2004
LLEYTON HEWITT joined exalted company today when he became the youngest
Australian in open-era tennis to capture 20 ATP titles.
Hewitt with the adidas International trophy.
Hewitt confirmed his status as a genuine modern-day great when he took out the
adidas International in Sydney for the third time with victory over Spaniard
Carlos Moya in the injury-shortened final at Olympic Park.
The gritty South Australian is just 22 years and 11 months old and only
all-time champions Bjorn Borg, Boris Becker, Mats Wilander, Jimmy Connors,
John McEnroe, Pete Sampras and Ivan Lendl have collected as many titles at a
younger age.
Borg was the quickest to achieve the feat, chalking up his 20th career victory
in Nice in 1977 at 20 years and 10 months – one month older than Hewitt when
the Adelaide baseliner became the youngest year-end world No.1 in history in
2001.
John Newcombe took until he was almost 29 to secure his 20th title, while Pat
Rafter – Australia's only other player to have reached No.1 since rankings
began in 1973 – had won just 11 tournaments before retiring at 29.
Hewitt said he was chuffed at his latest milestone.
"I knew it was my 20th. It's an awesome achievement to win any titles and
especially to win 20 ... it's a nice sounding number at the moment," Hewitt
told AAP.
"There's not been many people that have been able to do that, so it's a pretty
special feeling."
His 20-title haul adds further lustre to a remarkable career that has already
yielded Wimbledon and US Open crowns and an unbroken 75-week reign as world
No.1.
Despite slipping to 16th in the rankings after a relatively moderate 2003
season, Hewitt will head to Melbourne Park oozing confidence having established
a tour-best 10-match winning streak dating back to the US Open in September.
"I'm playing pretty well at the moment, getting more and more confident with
every win I get under my belt," he said after he'd established a break of
serve against Moya before the world No.6 retired with a badly sprained ankle
while trailing 4-3 and 40-15 in the first set.
"I felt like I really, really went up a notch today. You've got to against a
player of the calibre of Carlos Moya.
"Carlos is obviously one of the best players out there at the moment ...
probably most of the time as well.
"He's a former world No.1, he's won a grand slam, he's a big-match player. I
knew I had to go up a level today and I felt like I was able to do that.
"I thought it was a very high-standard match early on."
Hewitt has now snared three titles in Sydney, having gone back-to-back in
2000-01, and is riding a 17-match winning sequence at a tournament he believes
offers him the best preparation for the Australian Open.
The 15th seed will open against a qualifier next week and said the Sydney
experience had stood him in great stead for a serious tilt at his home grand
slam.
"I had to face break points out there today, so I've come through a small
pressure situation in a match condition but I didn't have to waste that extra
energy," Hewitt said.
Moya's Australian Open hopes don't look quite so rosy after he was rushed to
hospital for X-rays this afternoon, with Sydney's tournament doctor John
Ackerman fearing the 1998 Melbourne Park runner-up may have fractured his
right ankle.
Moya rolled on the ankle trying in vain to stave off a break point in the
seventh game of today's final.
"I don't know how it's going to be," he admitted.
"I hope it's not going to be that bad, but it really hurts a lot. It's
disappointing (but) these things happen in tennis.
"I was very confident. I was playing pretty well today."
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