[News]'I'm Excited,' Says Big Ivo
※ [本文轉錄自 Tennis 看板]
作者: ouch (C'est fini!!!) 看板: Tennis
標題: [News]'I'm Excited,' Says Big Ivo
時間: Tue Jun 24 08:46:32 2003
'I'm Excited,' Says Big Ivo
Karlovic fields call from countryman Ivanisevic after upsetting Hewitt
in the first round.
By Alex Kennison at Wimbledon
In one of the biggest upsets ever seen at Wimbledon, Croatian qualifier
Ivo Karlovic sensationally knocked out defending champion Lleyton Hewitt
to get the 2003 Championships off to a dramatic start at the All England
Club. Karlovic's 1-6, 7-6(5), 6-3, 6-4 victory in 2 hours, 24 minutes
stunned the Centre Court crowd as Hewitt, the top seed, became the first
champion to lose in the first round in the Open era, and only the second
in the history of the Championships.
"I'm excited," said Karlovic, who was ranked No. 203 in the ATP Entry
Ranking coming into the match. "I believe I'm going to realize some day
that I won. The first set, I was completely scared. After I saw that I
beat him, I started to play much better. I saw him play last week and he
didn't play anything special. I was pretty prepared to win."
And the Croatian, who served and volleyed on first and second serves on
every point, said he had received a call from former champion Goran
Ivanisevic after the match.
"Back home, for sure it's going to be a big story," said Karlovic.
"Goran [Ivanisevic] was always my idol. I spoke with him just now and
he congratulated me."
Not since Manuel Santana lost to Charlie Pasarell in 1967 had the defending
champion failed to win his opening match, and after Hewitt won the first
set in 19 minutes, the likelihood of him joining Santana looked remote.
But the 6'10" Karlovic, who was making his Grand Slam debut having failed
to qualify in his previous 10 attempts at this level, soon settled his
nerves in the second set, cutting out the double faults that cost him
his serve on three occasions in his opening four service games. Having
taken the second set to a tie-break, Karlovic led 4-2 and was beginning
to give Hewitt - known for being one of the best returners in the game -
all kinds of trouble with his high bouncing serve. Although Hewitt won
the next three points, Karlovic held to take a 6-5 lead and a cross court
forehand winner from the 24-year-old Croatian sent warning signals that
he was back in the match.
With Hewitt showing signs of frustration, the Centre Court crowd began
to sense an upset as Karlovic, playing in only his fifth tournament on
the ATP circuit (4-6 record, including Davis Cup), broke to lead 3-1 in
the third set. Five games later, his 14th ace of the match helped him
clinch a crucial two sets to one lead.
If Hewitt was expecting Karlovic's level to drop in the fourth, he was
soon made to think otherwise as the Croatian continued to send down
service winners. At 4-4, Karlovic seized his opportunity, breaking for
the second time in the match as Hewitt's backhand sailed beyond the
baseline, and, having set up three match points, Karlovic sealed a famous
victory with his 59th unreturnable serve of the match.
Hewitt, who lost his Stella Artois title to Sebastien Grosjean in the
quarterfinals two weeks ago, said: "I felt like I'd practiced really
well over the last week and a half, felt like I was hitting the ball
well and I felt like I was hitting the ball well today. I was seeing it
well, I could easily have been 6-1, 4-0 up. I just didn't take my chances.
"I'd never seen him play. I'd seen him walk around a bit before, obviously
tried to find out as much as possible. I knew he had a big serve and that
was obviously his weapon."
Looking to the future, Hewitt added: "I hope I can learn from it. I've
got to try and get this out of my mind as much as possible."
--
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◆ From: 203.203.34.127
--
※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.csie.ntu.edu.tw)
◆ From: 203.203.34.127
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