Masters Cup Final Features Federer Against Hewitt; Bryan Brothers Defend Doubles Title

Posted on November 21, 2004

Federer, Hewitt to Face Off in Masters Cup Final

World No. 1 Roger Federer will try and cap off a career year Sunday, adding a Masters Cup title to three slams when he faces Lleyton Hewitt in the final of the 2004 Masters Cup.

Federer defeated Marat Safin 6-3, 7-6, including a second-set tiebreak that went 20-18 and six set points before closing out the match. The win was the 22nd consecutive for Federer over Top 10 players.

"I'm happy to win that tiebreaker, it was very special," Federer said. "That was really fun. It was going back and forth and there were only big points. The level of play was very high. It's not like we were giving each other those points. The whole match was great."

Federer rallied from a 1-4 deficit in the second set, with the 38-point tiebreak tying the tour record. Safin had numerous opportunities before finally succumbing.

"I was probably going for too much because I knew I have Roger Federer on the other side, so I had to do something extra," said Safin, who double-faulted at 18-all in the tiebreak. "I didn't really make any huge mistakes in the tiebreak. I was unfortunately, a little bit nervous. I had to wait more for a good opportunity. Otherwise I don't regret anything from the tiebreak, even though I had six break points."

Hewitt, who led Andy Roddick 3-1 in their career encounters entering the semifinals, was at his tenacious shrieking best in defeating a flat A-Rod 6-3, 6-2. Seemingly deflated at the end of the match, Roddick dropped the last 20 points of the match. Roddick had been riding the wave of his recent volleying experiments, but against Hewitt watched passing shot after passing shot go by.

"I just stoned them," Roddick said of his volley efforts. "I've been hitting them great all week, you know, better than I have. And today, that's about as bad as I've volleyed. It was just bad. I have to be kind of proud a little bit that I committed to doing it this week...I can't explain it. I felt like I hit a forehand well and missed it by four feet. And I've been volleying really well all week and today I just stoned them. It was bad."

Hewitt, serving solidly all week in Houston, found himself dictating on serve and dominating Roddick's delivery.

"I think he just hadn't had that many opportunities on my service games," Hewitt said. "Even through the first set, it could have been 6-1. I felt I was right on my serve today. Every time we got into a baseline rally, I was dictating play."

Hewitt leads the career head-to-head 7-6, but Club Fed has won the last five meetings, including this week's Masters Cup round robin, and this year's US Open, Wimbledon, Masters Series-Hamburg, and Australian Open.

"It's not going to be easy, you know," Hewitt said. "Obviously, Roger is playing extremely well. You know, as I said after my loss against him the other night, I had a couple of chances out there. Wasn't quite able to take them. Against especially Roger the best players in the world, but especially Roger you have to be able to take him right at the moment. I wasn't able to do that. I haven't been able to do that all year."

In the Masters Cup Doubles final, the defending champion Bryan brothers defeated Zimbabwe's Wayne Black and Kevin Ullyett 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-2 for their tour-leading seventh title of the year, finishing the year No. 2 behind Mark Knowles-Daniel Nestor.

TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Last night Venus Williams faced Anna Kournikova as part of the McDonald's Williams Sisters Tour, this time with a stop in Lexington, Kentucky...Click on the "news" section of the Masters Cup site and you get last year's news with Andy Roddick clinching the No. 1 year-end ranking...From the Herald Sun: "Tennis Australia boss Geoff Pollard has relinquished the role of CEO in the wake of a damning Australian Sports Commission report. While Tennis Australia will advertise for a new CEO, Pollard will retain the role of president, chairing the board and representing the region's tennis interests globally."...From Russia's Prava: "New Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova to outstrip sex symbol Anna Kournikova. The Russian tennis player will become the world's highest-paid athlete, making up to $100 million every year. Russian girl Maria Sharapova has conquered the world of tennis. Nature has showered her with beauty, long legs, an incredible capacity for work and a huge sports potential. Anna Kournikova has been considered the central sex symbol of sports for recent several years. Anna has made it possible to raise the popularity of women's sports. Foreigners may not know Russian president's first name, but everybody knows Kournikova's name."...Marat Safin on playing the 2005 Wimbledon: "I have nothing against Wimbledon. I have nothing against the courts that they have. Just for me, personally, I'm not going to waste my time on something where I cannot see my tennis the way I will enjoy it. I'm not enjoying the Wimbledon. Me, personally, I don't like the surface. I'm not good at it. And for what I need to waste my time two weeks before to prepare for it, just especially for the tournament? You come to Wimbledon, you go crazy. I'm going to play. But I'm not going to be there two weeks before and practicing on the courts. I'm going to come like everybody is coming on Thursday before the tournament, practice three hours a day, do my stuff. I played there for five years and the best result I made was the quarterfinals. I don't know how. I can't explain. The other four years, I was just like useless. Personally, for my confidence and for my ego, I prefer not to play this tournament, not to waste my energy, my nerves. They're much more expensive than the prize money of second round or first one. I prefer just to have vacations."...Hey Andy Roddick, after stoning one hours of volleys against Lleyton Hewitt Saturday, how is that plan coming on crashing the net on RED CLAY against the Spaniards in the Davis Cup final? Time to re-think that car crash, back to "Plan A," hitting every ball as hard as you can...Hey ESPN, thanks for showing the Andy Roddick-Lleyton Hewitt tape job at the same time the world No. 1 Roger Federer was facing off in a classic against Marat Safin, good job. Only in tennis will we accept as normal a same-day tape job when there is live tennis being played. Ever see a same-day tape of NFL, MLB or PGA golf?...Roger Federer is attempting to become the first player since Ivan Lendl in 1986-87 to win back-to-back Masters Cup titles without losing a match.