Roddick knocks Hewitt out of Wimbledon

ArticleData Array ( [Article] => Array ( [article_id] => 1043482 [headline] => Roddick knocks Hewitt out of Wimbledon [abstract] => Andy Roddick ended Lleyton Hewitt's Wimbledon campaign on Wednesday, winning an epic quarter-final against the Aussie tennis star. [keywords] => Hewitt, Lleyton Hewitt, Andy Roddick, Roddick, tennis, Wimbledon [content] =>

Andy Roddick ended Lleyton Hewitt's Wimbledon campaign on Wednesday, winning an epic quarter-final against the Aussie tennis star.

The American No.6 seed beat the Australian 6-3 6-7 (10-12) 7-6 (7-1) 4-6 6-4 in three hours and 50 minutes.

He next faces British hope Andy Murray, while five-time champion Roger Federer meets Tommy Haas in the other semi-final.

Hewitt failed to make inroads on Roddick's booming serve, while his own faltered as he struggled with the left thigh strain he suffered during his fourth-round victory over No.23 seed Radek Stepanek on Monday.

"It was a little bit sore stretching out, on my serve as well," Hewitt said. "That was probably the biggest issue. But I still was able to go the distance and go five sets.

"One of the worst things was trying to push off from my left leg... I didn't serve quite as well as I would have liked."

But the 2002 champion also commended Roddick's serve, which proved crucial.

"He's definitely one of the great servers out there," Hewitt said. "He's up there with the best of them."

Roddick raced to an early 3-0 lead and he came back from 0-30 down in the deciding game to convert his first set point when Hewitt netted a backhand.

Hewitt went 4-1 up in the second set, but Roddick broke back in the seventh game and served up three aces in a row to come back from 15-40 down and hold serve.

The Australian fought off two break points on his next service game, while Roddick again dragged himself back from 0-30 down to hold and force the tiebreak.

Hewitt conceded the first point, but made amends immediately for 1-1.

He sent down a ripping forehand to draw level again at 5-5 after trailing 1-3 and cheers of "let's go Lleyton, let's go" could be heard from the hill beyond the walls of Court No.1.

When Roddick hit a forehand long on the final point, Hewitt claimed the tiebreak.

Apart from giving up the first point of the third-set tiebreak with a volley that flew wide, Roddick dominated, helped by two double faults from Hewitt.

The Australian looked finished at the start of the fourth set, going down a break after the opening game.

But he converted the first of two break points to draw level at 2-2 and when Roddick's backhand floated wide in the 10th game, Hewitt claimed another break to force the match to a fifth set.

Hewitt's discomfort from his leg was evident - he leaned over and clutched his thigh after handing Roddick a break point in the first game of the fifth set, but the tenacious South Australian worked his way out of trouble to hold serve.

Hewitt had to save two more break points in the third game, and in a remarkable tussle in the fourth, he failed to convert three opportunities against Roddick after some gutsy play by the American.

The turning point came when Roddick converted his second break point in the ninth game, swatting Hewitt's drop shot back past the Australian with a ripping forehand.

He claimed victory on his first match point when Hewitt's volley sailed long.

 

[start_date] => 02 July 2009 | 06:49:10 AM [comments_allowed] => 1 [source] => AAP/SBS [commentCount] => 0 [video] => [image] => Array ( [caption] => Lleyton Hewitt forced Andy Roddick to five sets [useRegularImage] => 1 [media_library_id] => 98597 [site_id] => 1 [media_library_group_id] => 0 [media_usage_id] => 0 [filename] => site_1_rand_753654327_hewitt_wimbledon_fall_020709_getty_b.jpg [title] => hewitt_wimbledon_fall_020709_getty_B_753654327 [description] => file:site_1_rand_753654327_hewitt_wimbledon_fall_020709_getty_b.jpg [type] => [height] => 338 [width] => 450 [source] => [video_hi] => [video_lo] => [section] => [display_order] => 0 [create_date] => 2009-07-02 07:01:58 [active] => 1 [media_usage] => Article Large [usageWidth] => 300 [usageHeight] => 225 ) [imagePath] => http://media.sbs.com.au/news/upload_media/ [audio] => [reporter] => [relatedLinks] => Array ( [2] => Array ( [id] => 1041996 [label] => Andy Murray wins thriller under new roof [display_order] => 0 [type] => Article ) [1] => Array ( [id] => 1041847 [label] => Wimbledon staffers spark flu scare [display_order] => 0 [type] => Article ) [0] => Array ( [id] => 1041366 [label] => Australian fans talk of Wimbledon [display_order] => 0 [type] => Article ) ) [relatedArticles] => Array ( [0] => Array ( [article_id] => 1041366 [headline] => Australian fans talk of Wimbledon [abstract] => Australia's tennis players have been the envy of their peers at Wimbledon, thanks to their vocal fans. [content] =>

Australia's tennis players have been the envy of their peers at Wimbledon, thanks to their vocal fans.

And Lleyton Hewitt can count on a rousing reception when he takes on Czech No.23 seed Radek Stepanek in the round of 16 tonight.

Clad in green and gold, an impressive band of supporters turned up at Court No.2 on Saturday, first trying in vain to spur Samantha Stosur to a comeback against Ana Ivanovic.

When Hewitt followed on the same court, they jumped up and down, chanted and sang as their countryman secured a comfortable victory over Philipp Petzschner of Germany.

"It was fantastic, it was a great feeling out there," Hewitt said.

"I had the whole crowd behind me, which was great.

"I think they camped out again last night to watch obviously myself and Sam play."

Last week, the Australian fans' antics prompted British women's No.1 Anne Keothavong to call on local supporters to follow suit.

Her doubles partner, Sarah Borwell, also said she was disappointed by the reserved home crowd, claiming all she could hear was "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie" as they lost to Stosur and Rennae Stubbs.

Stosur had remarked more than once that she felt as though she was playing in front of a home crowd much of the time.

On Saturday, there were suggestions a steward had asked the Australian fans to pipe down.

The chair umpire, meanwhile, just gave a few polite and good-natured reminders that play was ready to resume when their singing went on too long during Hewitt's match.

"I thought they were fine out there today," Hewitt said.

"I felt the whole crowd was really into it, it was a good atmosphere."

Having heard most of their playlist before, Hewitt was not distracted when by tunes as diverse as the "C'mon, C'mon" from Gary Glitter's I'm the Leader of the Gang (I Am), You're the Voice by John Farnham and Moving Pictures' 1980s hit What About Me.

When Lauryn Hill's Oh Pretty Baby became "Oh Pretty Lleyton", the entire crowd burst out laughing, although Hewitt was deep in concentration at that point.

"It's a background noise, a lot of it," he said.

"It works perfectly for me because I can feed off them when I need to."
 

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