Moya vs. Hewitt
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.
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Last updated 26 September 2015
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