Hewitt Wins Sydney Title, Hrbaty Second of 2004 at Auckland

Posted on January 18, 2004

Former No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt is backing up his prediction of retaking the top spot in 2004, Saturday in Sydney beating Carlos Moya for his first title of the year after the Spaniard was forced to retire at 4-3 in the first set with an ankle injury. "It's disappointing, these things happen in tennis," said Moya, with x-rays later showing he did not fracture the ankle as was feared. "I was playing very well, I was very confident. But it is a pity to end this way." For Hewitt it was his third Sydney title, and 20th total of his career. In the doubles final, Australia's Todd Woodbridge set the Open Era (since 1968) record for doubles titles with 79, with partner Jonas Bjorkman besting the American Bryan brothers 7-6(3), 7-5. It was the first title of the year for Bjorkman/Woodbridge, and their 12th as a team. "I'm going to continue to go out there, and I want to continue to win," Woodbridge said. "I enjoy winning. I've got to tell you that's the reason I stay out here -- it's a bit of a drug, that feeling you get when you win." Upon making the drug comment, Woodbridge was immediately given a urine test by ATP officials.

Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty fended off the firepower of Spanish teen Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 for his second consecutive title on the year Saturday at Auckland. The Slovak now enters the Australian Open unseeded but with a perfect 10-0 record on the year. "I think that it was my first final and I was a little bit nervous," said the 17-year-old Prodigy, who led 3-0 in the third set. "The first match in every tournament is the most important and if you can win that match nobody knows what will happen." What the hell does that mean? In the doubles final, Mahesh Bhupathi/Fabrice Santoro came back to beat Czechs Jiri Novak/Radek Stepanek 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 for their first title of the year as a team. "With Fabrice's return of serve it is unwise to write us off," counseled India's Bhupathi. "It was a pleasure to have someone like Fabrice on my side with all his dinks, cuts and things. We were playing better every match."

WTA REVIEW/PREVIEW
France's Amelie Mauresmo won one rain-delayed match Sunday over unseeded Francesca Schiavone of Italy, but it was not enough as the No. 3 seed was then stymied by world No. 1 Justine Henin-Hardenne 6-4, 6-4 in the Sydney championship match. "I was feeling a little bit nervous at the beginning of the match," H-H said. "I just played well when I had to. I served pretty good during the whole match. That helped me to stay confident in my service games. I was more aggressive in the second set, much more than in the first. I've been a little bit lucky at the end of the first set. But I've been brave when I had to -- I went into the net." That IS an anomaly on the WTA Tour. The loss drops Mauresmo's career record in finals to 10-11, while it was the first title of the year for H-H. In the doubles final, (3)Black/Stubbs outlasted (WC)Safina/Shaughnessy 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 for their first title in only their second partnership.


Argentine No. 2 seed Paola Suarez fought off five match points to defeat Italian No. 3 seed Silvia Farina Elia 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) at Canberra for her first title of the year, and the fourth of her career. Farina Elia led 5-2 and held five match points in the third set, one in the ninth game and another four in the 12th game. "Today I think I am lucky," Suarez said. "We are very close and we both have chances, today it goes my way. I just try and be more aggressive." The Argentine is now 4-4 in career singles finals, while Farina Elia drops to 3-8. The WTA is investigating a possible fine to Farina Elia, who in her post-match conference denounced the chair umpire as "a real asshole" for a call that went against her during the final, with the Italian also passing on the post-match handshake. In the doubles final, unseeded Kostanic/Schaul, in their first teaming, upended (4)Dhenin/McShea 6-4, 7-6(3).

In the Friday Hobart final, unseeded American Amy "Joltin' Joe" Frazier won her first title in almost five years, upsetting No. 6 seed Shinobu Asagoe of Japan 6-3, 6-3. Asagoe made up for the loss in the doubles final, partnering with countrywoman Okamoto in a win over top-seeded Callens/Schett 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 in their first-ever tournament pairing.

ATP OPEN ERA DOUBLES TITLES LEADERS
1. Todd Woodbridge -- 79
2. Tom Okker -- 78
3. John McEnroe -- 77
4. Frew McMillan -- 74
5. Mark Woodforde -- 67

ATP CURRENT TOP 10 AUSSIE OPEN RESULTS FROM 2003
1. Andy Roddick (USA) -- Semifinalist
Ran out of juice after a 21-19 fifth-set victory over Younes El Aynaoui in the quarterfinals.
2. Roger Federer (SUI) -- lost in R16
Felled in five sets by his Argentine Nemesis David Nalbandian.
3. Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP) -- Quarterfinalist
Surprisingly stopped in straight sets by solid Aussie Open performer Wayne Ferreira.
4. Andre Agassi (USA) -- Champion
Beats year-end Top 10ers Guillermo Coria and Sebastien Grosjean en route, and thumps Rainer Schuettler in the straight-set final.
5. Guillermo Coria (ARG) -- lost in R16
Beat Clavet, Canas, and Nieminen before losing to champ Agassi.
6. Rainer Schuettler (GER) -- Runner-up
Had what will likely be his career moment in tennis, running to the final before getting housed by Agassi.
7. Carlos Moya (ESP) -- lost 2nd round
Was stunned in five sets by serve-and-volleying American Mardy Fish.
8. David Nalbandian -- Quarterfinalist
Took out Federer before the surprise loss to Schuettler.
9. Sebastien Grosjean (FRA) -- Quarterfinalist
Survived a five-setter against Felix Mantilla in the R16 before being pummeled by Agassi.
10. Mark Philippoussis (AUS) -- lost in 3rd round
After solid wins over Verkerk and Srichaphan, was stunned by the smooth-stroking Sargis Sargsian in another home-grown disappointment.

AUSSIE OPEN MONDAY SCHEDULE
Men:
(6)Schettler vs. Soderling, (1)Roddick vs. Gonzalez, (4)Agassi vs. Larkham, (19)Kuerten vs. van Lottum, (7)Moya vs. Blake, (WC)Guccione vs. (WC)Jones, (9)Grosjean vs. Youzhny, Safin vs. Vahaly, (27)Dent vs. Verdasco, (18)El Aynaoui vs. Blanco, (13)Srichaphan vs. Acasuso, (WC)Escude vs. H.T.-Lee, Golmard vs. Portas, Mahut vs. Berdych, (30)Clement vs. Davydenko, (12)Massu vs. Nieminen, (32)Ginepri vs. Horna, (20)Robredo vs. Gaudio, Labadze vs. Chela, Hrbaty vs. Saretta, Ljubicic vs. Tursunov, Ulihrach vs. Burgsmuller, Beck vs. Koubek, Melzer vs. Behrend, (16)Schalken vs. Carlsen, (21)Fish vs. Karlovic, (29)Spadea vs. Enqvist, T.Martin vs. Dupuis, O.Hernandez vs. N.Lapentti, Gambill vs. Carraz, Patience vs. Andreev, and Ferrer vs. Muller.
Women:
(1)Henin-Hardenne vs. Lukaszewicz, (17)Shaughnessy vs, Pratt, (7)Dementieva vs. Jankovic, (4)Mauresmo vs. Chuang, (WC)Stosur vs. Talaja, (31)Tanasugarn vs. Granville, Molik vs. Bachmann, (10)Petrova vs. Kapros, (5)Davenport vs. Dragomir-Ilie, Mandula vs. Leon Garcia, (24)Maleeva vs. Reeves, Vento-Kabchi vs. Czink, Pin vs. Garbin, Pennetta vs. Serra Zanetti, Morigami vs. Pelletier, (32)Zuluaga vs. Asagoe, Musgrave vs. Dominikovic, Dellacqua vs. Cervanova, Perebiynis vs. Schaul, Jidkova vs. Diaz-Olivia, (16)Serna vs. Santangelo, Cargill vs. Medina Garrigues, Grande vs. Craybas, (26)Pisnik vs. Fedak, (30)Kuznetsova vs. Perry, Callens vs. Black, (11)Zvonareva vs. Ondraskova, (15)Hantuchova vs. Serra Zanetti, (21)Bovina vs. Kleinova, (19)Daniilidou vs. Hopkins, C.Fernandez vs. Schett, and Loit vs. Marrero.

NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES, AND BARBS
Bohdan Ulihrach, who the ATP suspended then reinstated once it discovered its trainers had been handing out tainted supplements, has come out in support of Greg Rusedski: "I believe Greg 100 percent. He has my full support. When they decided I couldn't play for two years, it was terrible. It is very hard when you know you are innocent. They were tough times when they suspended me because I looked like a cheater. The world fell down for me. After the man said my sample was positive, I couldn't sleep. I just wanted to play tennis again. I didn't know what nandrolone was. Now I'm smarter and I know almost everything about nandrolone but I still don't know where the nandrolone in my system came from."...Goran Ivanisevic, who has not played since June 2003 with a knee injury, has accepted a wildcard for the February indoor event at Milan...Andre Agassi consistently missed first serves and groundstroke winner opportunities in a loss to David Nalbandian in the final of the Kooyong exhibition: "I was sort of pressing in a lot of parts of my game today. I was pretty lucky to get the five games I got," Agassi said. "Today was a tough day, no question. I felt I played well. He played well on the big shots. I found myself admiring some."...Alex Corretja "mooned" Roger Federer in jest (underwear up) during their match Saturday at Kooyong after the Swiss, leading 4-0, hit an amazing winner off a seemingly un-retrievable ball...Andy Roddick withdrew from his consolation match at Kooyong, citing blisters on his foot from a previous three-set affair.