Six-times Wimbledon champion Federer had not lost a match at Halle since
2002, winning the title five times, and had beaten Hewitt 15 times in a
row over the past six years. Hewitt, a former Wimbledon champion
himself, ended the two hour 20 minute contest when his forehand hit the
net tape and dropped dead on Federer's side."Roger's a hell of an
opponent, his grass-court record speaks for itself," Hewitt told
reporters. "Any time you play Roger on a grass court you know you're in
for a hell of a battle and I was lucky to get out of today's match."It's
fantastic for me. I'm getting toward the end of my career and had
couple of surgeries, to know I can still compete at this level. I'm
thrilled to be here and to have won another title."Going into
Sunday's final, Federer had won 76 of his last 77 matches on grass
dating back to 2002. His only blemish was a five-set loss to Rafael
Nadal in the 2008 Wimbledon final.However, Hewitt is not one to
surrender easily and he refused to be intimidated by his abysmal record
against the 16-times grand slam champion.After allowing Federer to
bag the first set, he chased down everything the top seed could throw at
him to win his first title in over a year and first on grass since
triumphing at Queen's in 2006.
