ROTTERDAM, 22 February 2004 — Tim Henman was left trying to unravel Lleyton Hewitt’s game after losing to the Australian in the semifinals of the 842,000-euro Rotterdam ATP event here yesterday. Hewitt, a former world No 1 but fast re-approaching his best in 13th place, crushed any hopes Henman had of a first-ever career victory against him by beating the Englishman 6-3, 6-3.
In seven matches dating back to 2000, the 29-year-old Henman has managed to take a mere two sets from Hewitt in a run of disheartening losses. It was a far cry from his impressive display in midweek when he eliminated Roger Federer to take his win streak against the stylish Swiss player to 6-1.
Sixth seed Hewitt will play for the title at the Ahoy stadium today against the winner from second seed Juan Carlos Ferrero and defending champion Max Mirnyi of Belarus. “One guy (Mirnyi) comes at you and the other’s an aggressive baseliner who won’t give you any cheap points,” said Hewitt. “I have close heads to heads with both.”
And while Hewitt is fast heading back into the world top ten ranking, world No. 11 Henman is hoping he can gain entry to the world elite. The 29-year-old Briton has been a losing finalist here three times, but failed to earn a fourth title shot as he lost in his first contest played against Hewitt since a 2002 Wimbledon semifinal.
On Friday, top seed Roger Federer was shown the exit door while Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero survived two match points to reach the semifinals. Riding into his quarterfinal on a 16-match winning streak, Swiss Federer came unstuck against his nemesis Briton Henman and lost 6-3, 7-6.
Second-seeded Ferrero, who was facing a Dutch opponent for the third day running, overcame a horrendous start to defeat Rotterdam-born Raemon Sluiter 1-6, 6-4, 7-6. Wimbledon champion Federer had entered the Ahoy center court with revenge on his mind as Henman had beaten him in five of their previous six meetings.
It was against Henman that Federer last tasted defeat in a competitive match, in October at the Paris Masters. Since then Federer has triumphed at the Australian Open and climbed to the top of the tennis rankings. However, he failed to take his chances and let a 4-2 lead in the second set slip through his fingers as well as a 5-1 advantage in the tiebreak.
Enqvist Defeats Roddick in Memphis
Meanwhile, Sweden’s Thomas Enqvist ousted top seed Andy Roddick 7-6, 6-3 to reach the semifinals of the Kroger St Jude Tournament in Memphis on Friday night. Roddick, who woke in the morning suffering from back spasms, received treatment throughout the day before taking to the court.
Enqvist will now meet German Nicolas Kiefer for a place in Sunday’s final of the $690,000 indoor event. Earlier in the day, Enqvist’s fellow Swede Joachim Johansson reached his first ATP semifinal, where he will face second seed Mardy Fish, who was taken to three sets by Dmitry Tursunov in his quarterfinal.
But despite serving 17 aces, he failed to convert any of his three break points in the match and eventually succumbed to the Swede in 78 minutes.
Enqvist is now just two matches away from claiming his 20th ATP career title and his first since Marseille in 2002. The Swede, who reached a career-high number four in 1999 but slipped to 95 at the end of 2003, has won 11 of his 19 titles indoors.
Australian Pratt Claims Indian title
In Hyderabad, fourth-seeded Australian Nicole Pratt scored a convincing victory over Russian teenager Maria Kirilenko in the final of the 140,000-dollar WTA Indian Open here yesterday. Pratt overcame initial resistance from her unseeded opponent to script a 7-6 (7-3), 6-1 win in just over two hours to ensure her maiden WTA title. The 31-year-old said she had set some goals to keep her going on the circuit.
Farina Elia Keeps Cool to Reach Final
Italy’s Silvia Farina Elia beat Karolina Sprem of Croatia 6-4 7-5 yesterday to reach the final of the Antwerp Diamond Games. She will meet either Kim Clijsters of Belgium or Swiss Myriam Casanova.
