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by Prip With the first night match already being a thriller, the atmosphere surrounding this match could not get any more electrifying. Carlos Moya, unseeded, had hardly been considered as a factor despite formerly being the No.1 player in the world, while the typically locally-orientated focus was on a more recent No.1 player (in the Champions Race standings), Lleyton Hewitt. However, yours truly had already tipped the Spaniard to make it to at least the semifinals, and had money riding on it at SportsTAB. Quite comically, both players turned out in the same gear: the red Nike shirt with pink squiggles on the back, and dark blue shorts that reached down to their knees. In fact, with Lleyton's blonde mass of hair tucked into a black cap, the two could hardly be distinguished at times, and watching the match was an extremely bizarre experience. Thankfully, Carlos changed into a light blue shirt late in the match, and that made things easier on the spectators. The first set started out close, with both guys really hitting the ball as expected. Lleyton played very smart tennis, pressuring the Spaniard's backhand and drawing the errors off his weaker side to get the break and the first set 6-4. Carlos soon got into the swing of things, though, and used the same tactics against his opponent. The battle became as to who could get the first forehand, and Carlos's backhand started to pick up. He opened the court up beautifully, drawing Lleyton farther and farther to his backhand side before going for the forehand winner on the other side of the court. Even Lleyton with all his speed couldn't get back in time, and the Spaniard lost only one game in taking the set. Lleyton had really quieted down at the end of the second, while Carlos looked far more confident than he had midway through the first. However, the Aussie can always count on the crowd to pump him up, and soon came back to life. Running around the backhands to whip fierce forehand winners, the Aussie showed his amazing heart and explosive game to come back in the match, winning the third set 7-5. Finding his second set tactic no longer working, Carlos employed a different take. Instead of predictably going for Lleyton's forehand all the time, Carlos, started to really mix things up, keeping Lleyton guessing as to where the ball would come next. Having little time to react, the Aussie himself could hardly keep his attack on Carlos's backhand, and the Spaniard blasted forehand winner after forehand winner past his opponent. Occasionally coming into net and getting some beautiful drop volleys across the net, Carlos once again drove the Aussie to frustration, and took a 3-0 lead. He managed to throw the next two games away to bring it to 3-2, but shook off the momentary lapse and took the fourth set 6-2. Now came crucnch time. Neither player was expected to give the final set up, and a tough battle was definitely expected. Both players fought hard and refused to give their serve up, playing hard to avoid having to face break points. Both were getting extremely good serves in, although Lleyton's returning was as superb as ever, as it was throughout the match. With Carlos having a little more trouble on his games than Lleyton, the Aussie had his chances to get the break, but couldn't capitalize. The tension kept growing as the games went by, perhaps reaching a peak at 4-all with Lleyton serving ahead. Carlos had, by a combination of luck and aggressive returning, earned himself 2 break points, but couldn't convert either. Lleyton saved all three with huge service winners, only to find himself facing break point again on an unforced error. Following up on a big serve, the Aussie saved the third break point, but double-faulted to swing the advantage to Carlos yet again. Fired up by an overrule by the umpire on a passing shot of Carlos's that was called out, the Aussie fired 2 huge serves in to narrowly escape the break, and had more than a few words for the umpire during the changeover. Carlos managed to hold serve despite being down 0-15 and then 15-30 on his service game, and once again threatened to break Lleyton's serve. This time, he didn't let opportunity slip through his fingers, and a slight lapse from Lleyton gave the crucial break away. Ranting and raving for most of the match, Lleyton looked like he would burst a vein if the match were to go any further. 3 big serves from Carlos this time gave him three match points, and the Spaniard showed tremendous guts in throwing in a drop-shot after a hard baseline rally, with Lleyton's speed making him easily the fastest player on tour. Lleyton actually got to the ball from way behind the baseline, nearly crashing into the netpost and everything around it in the process, but couldn't keep the ball in, and that sealed the youngster's fate. Showing his emotions for the first time in the match, Carlos nearly fell to his knees, huge smile on his face and arms in the air. Dsespite his on-court behaviour, Lleyton congratulated his opponent well at the net, and later on, carried a good attitude at the press conference. The Aussie has had a great start to the year nonetheless, and knows that he has unfortunately lost to a world class champion in a great match early in the draw. |