Points won by each set: [ 42-33, 23-33, 34-26 ]
Points won directly on serve:
20 % Blake – 20 of 96
23 % Hewitt – 22 of 95
Blake’s [21] only victory over Hewitt [10] in their nine matches (Blake had also defeated Hewitt 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 when they met as juniors in Canada ’97). The American was playing tennis of his life at the time, he won 4 titles within six months, almost reached the US Open semifinal and played a final at Indian Wells. Against Hewitt he saved a mini set point at 3:4 (30/40) with his first attack to the net behind the serve. After the 1st set he he had just lost one service game in the tournament (vs Srichaphan, he saved 5 set points in that match), then he was broken 5 times in 8 service games, but broke the opponent four times in the final set and it allowed him to raise the hands after the two-hour match. “I’m happy to finally get a win against one of the best players of all time,” the fifth seed told reporters. “It was a big hurdle. We had played a lot of matches that went back and forth where he came out on top every time.” Before the final, Blake played all his four matches in the night sessions.
Blake’s route to his 5th title:
1 Paradorn Srichaphan 7-6(3), 6-0
2 Brian Vahaly 6-1, 6-1
Q Kenneth Carlsen 6-4, 6-4
S Ivo Karlovic 7-6(2), 6-1
W Lleyton Hewitt 7-5, 2-6, 6-3