January 27, 2010
Australian Open- Federer Advances to Quarterfinals after Beating Lleyton Hewitt
By Ally White
Swiss tennis player Roger Federer continued his winning streak on Monday, defeating Lleyton Hewitt and qualifying for the Australian Open’s quarterfinals for the seventh consecutive year. The world number 1 showed his best game against his old rival, reaching a 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 victory in less than two hours in front of a packed Rod Laver Arena. Hewitt, the last local player at the tournament, hasn’t beaten Federer since 2003, and the gap between the current and former world no. 1 has never seemed greater.
Federer was very effective from the beginning, with clean backhands and spectacular serves. Hewitt, on the other hand, approached the net only three times in the first set, winning two games. Hewitt didn’t win any points serving, volleying, or charging; his mission was to get Federer out of position on the baseline, then come in and put away a comfortable volley. His strategy, however, gave little in the way of results. At the end of the first set, Hewitt lost 6-2.
In the second set, Federer kept up his good performance, breaking Hewitt in the fourth game of the second set with a wrong-footing backhand drive. With the same shot, Federer won the second set 6-3 and increased his advantage to two sets.
In the third set, though, things finally got a little complicated for the Swiss player. Hewitt tied the set with a score of 4-4, but the world No. 1 upped the ante, finally beating the Australian 6-4. With the final score, Federer moves into the quarterfinals, where he will face the Russian Nikolay Davydenko, who beat the Spaniard Fernando Verdasco in an electrifying match, 6-2, 7-5, 4-6, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3.
Federer managed seven aces and 49 winners; he only needed an hour and 55 minutes to put the Australian away. Now, with Hewitt’s exist, Australia has no representative players in the final stages of its Open.
After the game, Federer stated that he was very pleased with his performance and his ability to maintain his focus, committing hardly any errors and concentrating on his game plan.
"Hardly made any unforced errors. If there were some, they were at moments I can live with. I was really able to press on the offensive, serve well when I had to, and I moved well as well, overall I'm extremely happy” said the Swiss, who committed 30 errors and converted 49 winners.
Hewitt, on the other hand, despite his loss, was happy with the way he played. He acknowledged Federer’s skill and recognized him as the best player in the circuit.
“He played special tennis. Tonight was as good as the US Open final in 2004. I prepared exactly the way that I wanted to prepare for the Australian summer. Gave 100% every time. But I ran into the best player at the moment, I would say."
Now in the quarterfinals, Federer will face Davydenko on Wednesday January 27th. Davydenko is certainly the most constant tennis player in the circuit, as he closed in 2009 with victories at the Masters 1000 of Shanghai in China and the Masters Cup in London, and opened 2010 with a successful victory in Doha.
Despite losing the last Australian Open to Rafael Nadal, Federer is the favorite to win the tournament.
About the Author
Ally White has been a prominent writer on daily Australian Open tennis games and other sports news and the sports book industry for many exceptional sport web sites. You may reprint this article in its full content, please note no modifications to it are accepted.