Hewitt nearly does the impossible at Wimbledon
Columnist By David Lord, 24 Jun 2011 David Lord is a Roar Expert
- Tagged:
- Lleyton Hewitt, Robin Soderling, Tennis, Wimbledon
Lleyton Hewitt proved at Wimbledon last night he can still mix it with the best, despite being ranked 130 in the world. The second round clash in a tick under four hours, Hewitt lost out to world number five Robin Soderling 6-7 3-6 7-5 6-4 6-4.
It was best summed up by the Swede: “It’s nice to have him back on tour. He’s a great fighter, and I hope he’s going to be around for awhile”.
It was the first time Soderling’s fought back from two sets down, and he knew he dodged a bullet in a mighty scrap.
In the end, it was Soderling’s explosive serve and ground strokes off both wings that saw him through.
Soderling served at 66% compared to Hewitt’s 51%, and over a long haul, that’s a significant difference, as was the speed: 137mph to 121.
Soderling’s 28 aces to 15 was also a telling factor when the 30-year-old Australian could hardly buy a first serve, especially on critical points.
That’s where the Swede eventually wore Hewitt down. Most of those aces were on critical points, as were his 75 winners to 44, which said volumes for Hewitt’s tenacity to stay in contention.
But as we all know, his never-say-die spirit has been the benchmark of his entire career.
To put another tick in the Hewitt box, it was only his seventh tournament of the year, with six wins and six losses – thanks to on-going ankle and foot injuries.
But Sodelring’s played 13 tournaments, winning three in Brisbane, Marseille, and Rotterdam, with a 34-8 win-loss stat for this year. Last night was his to lose.
Despite being disadvantaged, it was so close for Hewitt.
He was always playing catch-ups serving second, which meant a hiccup at the business end of every set was vital.
And that’s exactly what happened in the third, fourth, and deciding sets, especially the latter, when he lost his serve to love for the first time in the match: an anti-climactic finale after standing toe-to-toe for so long slugging it out, giving as good as he got in general play.
But there were three parts of Hewitt’s tennis last night worth reporting:
* His serve never has, nor will it ever, threaten any opponent. So mixing up his deliveries and making sure his first serve is effectively placed is a must.
* Where he positions himself to receive serve and in general play varies enormously. In winning the first two sets, Hewitt was close to the baseline, taking the ball on the rise. But he moved a couple of metres behind the baseline for the rest of the match, and paid the penalty.
* And right throughout his career, Hewitt has been reluctant to approach the net. Last night he played his best tennis in the second set, the shortest of the five, by approaching the net eight times for seven winners and overall cracked 19 winners from 22 trips to the net for a positive 86% return.
Which begs the question: why so negative for such positive results?
There’s no doubt Hewitt could have won last night had he ventured forward more often. Soderling doesn’t like net pressure.
But “if” doesn’t win anything. The day belonged to Robin Soderling, but Hewitt gave him a run for his money.
“I hit the ball pretty good out there, and my movement was pretty good, as well, for the number of matches I’ve played this year. But I didn’t take enough of the half-chances, especially in the fifth set when I had an early break and didn’t consolidate. If I can be as close to physically fit as possible, I know I can still compete with these top guys”.
That he did.
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The Crowd Says (9) | Page 1 of Comments
Have Your Say
- Explore:
- Lleyton Hewitt, Robin Soderling, Tennis, Wimbledon
June 24th 2011 @ 8:39am
JAJI said | June 24th 2011 @ 8:39am | Report comment
Always the gallant fighter without the major weapon at his disposal he was at his best in that void of 2000-2003 when Agassi and Sampras were in the twilight of their careers and Federer and Nadal had yet to emerge fully. Thats when he won his 2 slams. Unfortunately for him and the likes of Roddick, Nalbandian etc the emergence of Federer and Nadal and their combined 25 slams over the 2003-2011 period has meant the Hewitt trophy cabinet has never been able to reach its potential
As he got older the lack of major weapon has brought about his downfall
We havent had a local win the Australian Open since the early 1970′s. The chance was 2005. Federer had been knocked out. Nadal was too young. Sampras and Agassi retired and Roddick and Nalbandian had been dispatched in the quarters and semi finals. Hewitt was playing an ageing Marat Safin and was one set up and a break. That loss in the final I think will haunt him for the rest of his life
Yes he can compete now sparodically but Federer, Nadal and Djokovic are around for many more years
June 24th 2011 @ 9:35am
clipper said | June 24th 2011 @ 9:35am | Report comment
JAJI, I agree with most of what you’ve said, but I’d hardly say Marat Safin was ageing in the 2005 AO final – he was 25, only a year older than Hewitt, and the sort of player who was erratic, but when it all came together he was brilliant and unbeatable, and that’s what happened after the first set. I think the turning point for Hewitt was losing in the first round of Wimbledon as defending champion – he was never the same after that.
June 24th 2011 @ 10:54am
JAJI said | June 24th 2011 @ 10:54am | Report comment
Fair point clipper – and Safin had eliminated Federer in the same tournmanet and was on fire
June 25th 2011 @ 7:31am
amazonfan said | June 25th 2011 @ 7:31am | Report comment
“has meant the Hewitt trophy cabinet has never been able to reach its potential”
Actually, I think it more than reached its potential. I’ve always thought him to be lucky he was at his peak in the era he played in.
BTW, IMO Safin was still amazing in 2005.
June 24th 2011 @ 9:36am
BigAl said | June 24th 2011 @ 9:36am | Report comment
David Lord ! – how come you’re so ‘up’ with Lleyton Hewit, yet so ‘down’ with Sam Stosur ?
June 25th 2011 @ 1:49am
David Lord said | June 25th 2011 @ 1:49am | Report comment
Very simple BigAl – national pride. Lleyton Hewitt would have to be on deaths door not to represent Australia in the Davis Cup – it’s been a career-long priority. Sam Stosur decided in April her preparation for the French Open in May was far more important than representing Australia in the Fed Cup against Ukraine for promotion to the World Group. So Stosur practiced on clay overseas while Australia lost the promotion bid. So much for the clay practice, Stosur was bundled out in the third round of the French.
June 24th 2011 @ 4:53pm
Timnaik said | June 24th 2011 @ 4:53pm | Report comment
Hasn’t Hewitt been playing this way for a while now. Struggling to dominate guys he would have chewed up and spat out back in the early 2000s. He’s past it in my view just holding Australian men’s tennis for the next star who may or may not be Tomic. We’ll see.
June 24th 2011 @ 9:29pm
Lefty said | June 24th 2011 @ 9:29pm | Report comment
Hewitt’s been holding Aus men’s tennis for years now, buddy, and nobody else has even looked close to being a star. Long may he run.
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June 26th 2011 @ 4:04pm
Timnaik said | June 26th 2011 @ 4:04pm | Report comment
he’s still past it.