2 Responses to stuttgart00ferreira_hewitt

1. Voo de Mar says:

   May 2, 2025 at 9:46 am

   Points won by each set: | 42-40, 23-28, 48-53, 49-41, 25-15 |
   Points won directly behind the serve:
   27 % Ferreira – 54 of 194
   24 % Hewitt – 42 of 170

   An unexpected final of two Anglophones of the Eastern hemisphere lasted 4 hours 11 minutes. Ferreira [19] was unable to win a main-level event more than four years, so his advancement to the final of the second biggest regular indoor tournament was already surprising, but the circumstances were extremely beneficial for him: first a qualifier, then two not fully fit higher ranked players (Enqvist came to Stuttgart being fatigued after five matches in Basel; Philippoussis decided to quit losing his serve after five points due to neck pain), in another two rounds unseeded players, therefore 29-year-old Ferreira basically entered the final not being tired, and it helped him a lot against the raising star, a player ten years his junior. Hewitt [8] raced to a *2:0 lead, at 3:2 he squandered a double break point. In the tie-break Ferreira wasted two successive set points but converted his third, and in the next two sets he showed his huge experience in five-setters controlling the level of his energy wisely. He didn’t make an impression of someone who’s trying very hard when the score indicated “…3-6, 1:5* (0/30)”. Then a moment of lapse of Hewitt’s concentration, and the South African was eager to fight again. He saved six set points (1, 5) in two different games on serve, and improved from 1:5 to 6:5 serving! Hewitt broke back and won the tie-break from 5-all earlier trailing 1:3. Ferreira’s first two service games of the 4th set were crucial – he fought off four break points, and afterwards to the end of the match held all his service games convincingly. Hewitt wasn’t closer than five points from the title, losing two tie-break sets evoked his bad memories – it was already fourth time within a year (Pioline 2x, Sampras) when the young Australian lost two TBs, and similarly to the previous three cases, he ended up as the defeated man. At the beginning of the 5th set he seemed to lose completely the plot of the final, and Ferreira quickly established a 4:0 lead – in another Hewitt’s two service games, Ferreira didn’t try at all being simply focused on holding two more times. “I think match fitness was the biggest difference,” Hewitt said. “I definitely wasted an opportunity at 5:1. To Wayne’s credit, though, he put a lot of pressure on my serve.” Ferreira was ecstatic: “This will have to go down as probably the best week ever, just considering my last three years. This year I didn’t really give myself a chance to win something like this.” For Hewitt, who would become a five-set specialist – likewise Ferreira – it was barely a sixth five-setter (1:5 record).

   Ferreira’s route to his 14th title (# 2nd and last Masters 1K):
   1 Christian Vinck 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-4
   2 Thomas Enqvist 6-2, 7-5
   3 Mark Philippoussis 1-0 ret.
   Q Andrei Pavel 6-0, 7-5
   S Sebastien Grosjean 6-4, 6-2
   W Lleyton Hewitt 7-6(6), 3-6, 6-7(5), 7-6(2), 6-2

   Serve & volley: Ferreira 1/4, Hewitt 1/2

   Almost three years later Ferreira plays his another (last) final, and defeats Hewitt again in a dramatic contest

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2. Voo de Mar says:

   May 2, 2025 at 10:06 am

   The following year they face each other on the same court (in the quarterfinal), Hewitt is already on his way to become the best in the world, and the progress of the first three sets is almost identical, with one significant difference – Hewitt converts a point to win a set at 5:2 which gives him a 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-2 victory.

   # Ferreira is the only multiple Masters 1K champion born in the 70s to never play a Grand Slam final:
   17 – Agassi
   11 – Sampras
   7 – Chang
   5 – Courier, Rios, Kuerten
   4 – Medvedev
   3 – Enqvist
   2 – Ferreira, Ivanisevic, Krajicek, Corretja, Moya, Rafter, Bruguera

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