1 Response to ao05safin_hewitt

1. Voo de Mar says:

   January 15, 2024 at 5:57 am

   Points won by each set: [ 11-26, 34-28, 41-34, 36-25 ]
   Points won directly on serve:
   35 % Safin – 39 of 110
   24 % Hewitt – 30 of 125

   Hewitt [3] had exceptionally tough route to the final (five sets against Nadal & Nalbandian, four against Roddick), and paid the price for it. He led 4:1* in the 3rd set when the Russian [4] collected seven straight games attacking the net a lot, and held his serve comfortably to the end (in the 4th set Hewitt didn’t get two points in a game as a receiver). Safin’s last title even though he was just 25 y.o. – he couldn’t win another one playing the following five years. In the first round he destroyed the most successful player of the event in historic perspective – 18 y.o. Djokovic, for whom it was a major debut (fourth main-level event). “I’d like to congratulate Marat on a hell of a tournament, you knocked off the guy who’s been virtually impossible to beat so you definitely deserve it.” Hewitt said: “I didn’t feel like I played that badly out there, he was just too good. I gave it everything I had.”

   Safin’s route to his 15th & last title:
   1 Novak Djokovic 6-0, 6-2, 6-1 🙂
   2 Bohdan Ulihrach 6-4, 6-1, 6-3
   3 Mario Ancic 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
   4 Olivier Rochus 4-6, 7-6(1), 7-6(5), 7-6(2)
   Q Dominik Hrbaty 6-2, 6-4, 6-2
   S Roger Federer 5-7, 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(6), 9-7 – 1 m.p.
   W Lleyton Hewitt 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4

   # Comparison of two almost identical 4-set Aussie Open finals:
   1991: Becker d. Lendl 1-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4… 2 hours 50 minutes… Total points: 117-119
   2005: Safin d. Hewitt 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4… 2 hours 45 minutes… Total points: 122-113

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