Hewitt Tops Carlsen at Mercedes-Benz Cup
Hewitt Tops Carlsen at Mercedes-Benz Cup
Sat Aug 2, 1:16 AM ET
By BETH HARRIS, AP Sports Writer
LOS ANGELES - Lleyton Hewitt mocked the chair umpire, screamed in
frustration and bounced his racket a few times before defeating
Kenneth Carlsen 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-3 Friday to reach the semifinals
of the Mercedes-Benz Cup.
The top-seeded Australian next will play Nicolas Kiefer, who on
his sixth match point beat No. 8 Vince Spadea 1-6, 7-5, 6-3. All
four quarterfinals on the UCLA campus went three sets and three
of them took more than two hours.
Hewitt's fiery personality emerged in the first game of the second
set when he disagreed with a call by chair umpire Norm Chryst. Hewitt
and mockingly stuttered at Chryst and urged him to "open your mouth."
Hewitt wasn't penalized and held serve to open the set.
Hewitt took time out to replace a broken shoelace and then held at
love for a 5-4 lead. He finally broke Carlsen with a forehand winner
to force a third set, triggering a loud shout of "Come on!" as he
sprinted to his seat pumping his right fist.
"When he gets (mad) at himself, it's good for me," Carlsen said.
"You know you're doing something right."
Hewitt has had plenty of reason to be upset with his results. He
failed to defend his Wimbledon title last month, losing in the first
round to Ivo Karlovic. He started the year strongly, winning hardcourt
titles at Scottsdale, Ariz., and Indian Wells, Calif., but has struggled
since.
Hewitt, the world's top-ranked player the last two years, is fifth
in the ATP entry rankings, and Carlsen is 76th. Hewitt only faced
two break points on his serve in the match and served three love
games in the third set.
"He didn't let me get into any rhythm when he was serving," Carlsen said.
Carlsen didn't flinch in the third set until Hewitt broke him in the
eighth game for a 5-3 lead. Carlsen lost the game on a double fault.
Hewitt then held at love with a forehand winner to close out the match.
"He played very well, the best I've seen him play," Hewitt said. "He
had good rhythm on his serve the whole match. He really surprised me
how consistent he was from the back of the court."
Only recently is Carlsen finding his game again. He was off the ATP
Tour for 19 months, including all of 2000, after two shoulder
surgeries. By reaching the quarterfinals, he equaled his best result
of the year.
"It was only a couple of points here and there that decided the match,"
he said. "I wasn't mentally ready to start the year. Confidence is 80
percent of what you do out here. My game fell a little bit apart."
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╔★╗╔★╗╔★─★╗╔★╤╤★╗╔★★★╗╔★★★╗╔★★★╗
║ ╙╜ ║║＊ ═╝║ ▕▕ ║╚╖＊╓╝║ ║║ ＊║ COME ON!
║ ╓╖＊║║ ═╝║ ＊ ║╔╜ ╙╗╙╖＊╓╜╙╖ ╓╜ COME ON!
╚─╝╚─╝╚─═─╝╚═╧╧═╝╚─═─╝ ╙═╜ ╙═╜ COME ON!
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