Davis Cup - Aussies v. Swiss

Donny · Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2003 12:42 am

Prime time Davis Cup
By Richard Yallop
September 16, 2003

AUSTRALIA will break with a century-old tradition by playing this week's Davis Cup semi-final against Switzerland in Melbourne at night - to fit in with the wishes of broadcaster Channel Seven.

The tie, featuring Lleyton Hewitt and Mark Philippoussis and Switzerland's Wimbledon champion Roger Federer, will begin on Friday at 3pm, with the second singles played in the evening to ensure Channel Seven can broadcast it in prime time.

Australia has chosen to play the semi-final as an "outdoor" tie, with the roof open in Rod Laver Arena. All previous outdoor matches have begun in the morning.

It is understood that the broadcasting arrangements have been overseen by network chief executive David Leckie.

A network spokesman declined to elaborate in the absence of the executives involved in the decision, but confirmed: "Seven was part of the consultative process over the timing of the tie."

With no Australian football finals scheduled for Friday night on the rival Ten Network or rugby league finals on Nine, the Davis Cup promises to provide Seven with an evening ratings winner.

A Tennis Australia spokesman confirmed the decision was taken for television.

"We're trying to be more TV-friendly, to be in prime time here, and to permit the match to be shown live at a more reasonable time in Europe," he said.

The second singles on Friday and Sunday are scheduled to start in the stadium not before 6.30pm, with Seven providing a delayed telecast at 7.30pm on Friday. Rain is forecast for Melbourne on Friday night.

The network will telecast Saturday's key doubles live at 3pm - in direct competition to Ten's AFL preliminary final between Collingwood and Port Adelaide, which is being played 300 metres away from Rod Laver Arena at the MCG.

Donny · Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2003 12:44 am

Lleyton's handy man
September 16, 2003 from the Australian.

THE man known in tennis circles as Mr Fix It has worked wonders on Lleyton Hewitt's hip injury and the former world No.1 expects to be at peak fitness for the Davis Cup showdown with Switzerland.

Hewitt has been struggling with the hip flexor problem since his tough US Open quarter-final against Juan Carlos Ferrero.

But Melbourne chiropractor Andreas Bisaz revealed yesterday he had Hewitt on the mend.

"I've got to know Lleyton's physical strengths and weakness over five years both in my job with the Davis Cup team and also travelling with him personally at the grand slam tournaments," Bisaz said.

"I'm confident there will not be a problem and he should not be bothered by it when he plays his opening singles on Friday."

Australia play Switzerland in a semi-final on the Rod Laver Arena at Melbourne Park starting on Friday for the right to meet either Spain or Argentina in the final in December.

An Australian triumph this weekend will give Hewitt and co another home advantage in three months time.

The Davis Cup semi-final will be part of a monster sporting weekend in Melbourne - a fact that may influence the crowd numbers at Melbourne Park. Just a high lob from Centre Court is the MCG and on Saturday, Victoria's only team left in the AFL finals, Collingwood, meet Port Adelaide for the right to play in the grand final.

Mark Philippoussis is certain to be named as Hewitt's offsider in singles with Todd Woodbridge and Wayne Arthurs as the doubles combination for day two.

All eyes will be on the Wimbledon final rematch of last July when Philippoussis takes on the champion Roger Federer on day one.

Hewitt's opponent will either be Michel Kratochvil or George Bastl and in the reverse singles on Sunday it will be Federer. Australia took out the last Cup meeting in Zurich in the opening round of the 2000 competition with Philippoussis beating Bastl in the deciding fifth rubber.

Donny · Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2003 1:48 pm

Swiss cheesed off
By Richard Yallop
September 17, 2003

THE Swiss team has lodged a complaint over Australia's decision to play this week's semi-final in Melbourne as an outdoor tie, warning that players could be injured in the cold conditions.

The International Tennis Federation-appointed referee for the tie, Jorge Diaz, from Portugal, confirmed yesterday that the Swiss had complained of the decision to play the tie with the Rod Laver Arena open.

Cold, wet conditions have caused the roof to be closed for most of the first two days of practice and this has not improved the health of Mark Philippoussis, who is still troubled by a bad cough as he prepares for his Wimbledon final re-match with Swiss No.1 Roger Federer in Friday's opening singles.

Swiss player-captain Marc Rosset warned that the low temperatures expected for the night matches on Friday and Sunday raised the danger of player injuries.

"I hope no-one will get injured," Rosset said.

Federer said he was surprised how cold the weather had been in Melbourne.

"You have to warm up well," Federer said.

Diaz will discuss the issue of the roof with team captains, Rosset and John Fitzgerald, this morning. But he said there was little he could do because Australia had requested to play the match as an outdoor tie.

"The rule is that this is an outdoor event, and we should try to play outdoors," Diaz said.

He has checked with the weather bureau, which is predicting an evening temperature of about 10C on Friday. "I have known a colder tie outdoors in Italy in February," Diaz said.

Rosset made clear his unhappiness with the Australian decision to play outdoors. "I think it would be better for the players and the spectators if the roof was closed," Rosset said.

Federer, the target of the Australian decision to play outdoors, said he was prepared for any eventuality.

"The tie is supposed to be played outdoors. I'm ready to play outdoors but, if the roof is closed, I'm ready to play indoors," Federer said.

The Australian team felt the wind and other weather conditions would disrupt Federer's finesse and serving power.

Despite Federer having won seven of his nine titles outdoors, including Wimbledon, Todd Woodbridge said: "Federer is a good indoor player and we are good outdoor players. We want conditions that will disrupt his rhythm."

Australian attention was focused on Philippoussis's condition in yesterday's practice, because of his inability to shake off the cough he has had since last week and reports that he has been troubled by the recurrence of a neck injury.

Asked if he had any injury problems, Philippoussis hesitated before replying, in a husky voice: "I'm feeling pretty good."

Watched by his father Nick, and Davis Cup coach Wally Masur, he started serving at half pace, but moved up to full speed when he teamed with Lleyton Hewitt in a doubles match against Woodbridge and Wayne Arthurs.

Hewitt has been receiving treatment for a hip injury since the US Open, but is confident about his form. "Against (Juan Carlos) Ferrero, in the US Open semi-final, I felt it was the best I'd played all year."

Donny · Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2003 12:42 pm

Scud-Federer meet again
September 18, 2003

MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS will meet world No.1, Wimbledon champion Roger Federer in tomorrow's second singles in the Davis Cup semi-final with Switzerland at Melbourne's Rod Laver Arena.

The repeat of this year's Wimbledon final - which the Swiss won - will follow Australia's No.1 Lleyton Hewitt against Michael Kratochvil.

Switzerland pulled a minor surprise by naming team captain Marc Rosset for Saturday's key doubles match.

Rosset, 32, will partner Federer in a match which could decide the tie.

Todd Woodbridge and Wayne Arthurs will team for Australia.

The draw:
Tomorrow
Singles
Lleyton Hewitt v Michel Kratochvil
Mark Philippoussis v Roger Federer (Sui)

Saturday
Doubles
Todd Woodbridge and Wayne Arthurs v Marc Rosset and Federer

Sunday
Reverse singles
Hewitt v Federer
Philippoussis v Kratochvil

Donny · Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2003 7:00 pm

Hewitt gives Aussies lead
September 19, 2003

LLEYTON HEWITT got Australia off to the perfect start in its Davis Cup semi-final against Switzerland today, notching a straight-sets win in the opening singles rubber.

The world No.7 had been expected to crush his Swiss opponent Michel Kratochvil and he didn't let anyone down, winning 6- 4 6-4 6-1 in 108 minutes.

"Obviously I felt good out there," Hewitt said.

"I played well and I was aggressive from the start."

Hewitt asserted himself at the earliest opportunity, breaking Kratochvil's serve in the opening game of the tie.

It turned out to be the only service break of a set in which Hewitt's own serve was never seriously threatened.

In the second set Hewitt broke in the third game to lead 2-1, with the remainder of the games again going with serve.

With the 129th-ranked Kratochvil now under extreme pressure, Hewitt rolled through the third set in a tick under half-an-hour, breaking serve in the third and fifth games.

"I tried to keep the pressure on when I was 2-0 up and tried to get on top of him," he said.

"Whether it was three, four or five sets I was just happy to win."

Despite coming up against a comparatively lowly-ranked opponent, the win will have been a relief for Hewitt.

He had been troubled by a hip problem that hampered him during the recent US Open and before that had been playing slightly below his best.

But today's success helped rid him of any doubts he may have had.

"I felt confident, I was moving well and I've had a good preparation this week." he said.

In today's second match, Mark Philippoussis meets Roger Federer in a repeat of this year's Wimbledon final, which was won by the Swiss.

Donny · Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2003 2:34 am

Flip went out in straight sets to Federer.

Donny · Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2003 10:56 pm

Aussies gain upper hand
September 20, 2003

AUSTRALIA rocketed towards a berth in the Davis Cup final when they clinched a marathon doubles rubber against Switzerland.

Todd Woodbridge, in his record-equalling Cup performance for Australia, and Wayne Arthurs defeated Wimbledon champ Roger Federer and Swiss captain Marc Rosset 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 5-7 6-4 6-4.

Australia now hold a 2-1 lead in the semi-final and needs to win only one of tomorrow's reverse singles matches.

For Arthurs, the match erased the memory of his last encounter in Melbourne when he lost in the deciding singles rubber of the 2001 final to hand the Cup to France.

Woodbridge, who has now equalled Adrian Quist's record of 28 ties for Australia, said he was kept afloat by Arthurs.

"My partner played way better than I did today," Woodbridge said.

"He kept me in there and I struggled with my returns and he gave me the confidence to stay in there.

"But it has given the boys the chance to get to the final and that's our job," he said.

Switzerland surprised Australia from the start when Wayne Arthurs' double-faulted to give away a break point on his first serve, which the Swiss duly accepted.

They went on to wrap up the set 6-4 in 33 minutes, but not before Federer responded to break points against him in the final game with two booming aces.

Rosset's serve was broken by the Australian duo in the second game of the second set but the Swiss retrieved it by cracking Woodbridge.

The set crawled to a tiebreaker where Federer double faulted to hand Australia the second and in the third the Swiss clinched the only break point in the 12th game to take it 7-5.

Woodbridge was shaken the game before when he was hit hard on the left ear by an errant Arthurs return.

Australia levelled by taking out the fourth after Federer was broken in the fifth game.

In the final set Federer faltered again, serving up two double faults and handing Australia two break points, which led to a 4-3 edge.

Woodbridge went on to hold serve easily for 5-3 and it was all over.

Federer will continue his task tomorrow when he plays his third match in a row � against Australian No.1 Lleyton Hewitt � while Mark Philippoussis meets Michel Kratochvil.

The tie was poised at one-all after the opening day when Hewitt beat Kratochvil and Federer defeated Philippoussis.

Hewitt has a dominant record against Federer and should defeat the Swiss star, according to Philippoussis.

"He played too good for me...too solid," Philippoussis said of his Wimbledon final re-match against Federer.

"But I think if Lleyton plays solid, he'll take him out.

"Lleyton will put a lot of pressure on him and make him play a lot of points and it will be a different story."

Hewitt holds a 7-2 career head-to-head win-loss record against Federer.

He has won four of their past five meetings, Federer's only success being in last year's semi-finals at Miami.

Donny · Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2003 10:58 pm

Aussies gain upper hand
September 20, 2003

AUSTRALIA rocketed towards a berth in the Davis Cup final when they clinched a marathon doubles rubber against Switzerland.

Todd Woodbridge, in his record-equalling Cup performance for Australia, and Wayne Arthurs defeated Wimbledon champ Roger Federer and Swiss captain Marc Rosset 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 5-7 6-4 6-4.

Australia now hold a 2-1 lead in the semi-final and needs to win only one of tomorrow's reverse singles matches.

For Arthurs, the match erased the memory of his last encounter in Melbourne when he lost in the deciding singles rubber of the 2001 final to hand the Cup to France.

Woodbridge, who has now equalled Adrian Quist's record of 28 ties for Australia, said he was kept afloat by Arthurs.

"My partner played way better than I did today," Woodbridge said.

"He kept me in there and I struggled with my returns and he gave me the confidence to stay in there.

"But it has given the boys the chance to get to the final and that's our job," he said.

Switzerland surprised Australia from the start when Wayne Arthurs' double-faulted to give away a break point on his first serve, which the Swiss duly accepted.

They went on to wrap up the set 6-4 in 33 minutes, but not before Federer responded to break points against him in the final game with two booming aces.

Rosset's serve was broken by the Australian duo in the second game of the second set but the Swiss retrieved it by cracking Woodbridge.

The set crawled to a tiebreaker where Federer double faulted to hand Australia the second and in the third the Swiss clinched the only break point in the 12th game to take it 7-5.

Woodbridge was shaken the game before when he was hit hard on the left ear by an errant Arthurs return.

Australia levelled by taking out the fourth after Federer was broken in the fifth game.

In the final set Federer faltered again, serving up two double faults and handing Australia two break points, which led to a 4-3 edge.

Woodbridge went on to hold serve easily for 5-3 and it was all over.

Federer will continue his task tomorrow when he plays his third match in a row � against Australian No.1 Lleyton Hewitt � while Mark Philippoussis meets Michel Kratochvil.

The tie was poised at one-all after the opening day when Hewitt beat Kratochvil and Federer defeated Philippoussis.

Hewitt has a dominant record against Federer and should defeat the Swiss star, according to Philippoussis.

"He played too good for me...too solid," Philippoussis said of his Wimbledon final re-match against Federer.

"But I think if Lleyton plays solid, he'll take him out.

"Lleyton will put a lot of pressure on him and make him play a lot of points and it will be a different story."

Hewitt holds a 7-2 career head-to-head win-loss record against Federer.

He has won four of their past five meetings, Federer's only success being in last year's semi-finals at Miami.

Donny · Posted: Sun Sep 21, 2003 7:25 pm

An amazing match is drawing to a conclusion.

Federer won a close first set, 7/5, then easily won the second, 6/2.

Then the passionate Hewitt came back. He won the 3rd. He just won the 4th. after an incredibly dramatic point.

Two sets all.

Donny · Posted: Sun Sep 21, 2003 7:45 pm

Hewitt blitzed !! 6/1 !!!

What a match. We're in the Final. Great effort Lleyton.

Fradam · Joined: 21 Jun 1999 Location: Bendigo, Victoria

Love him or heate him the bloke has tremendous heart, he was gone and had no right to win that match but he toughed it out and did his country proud

HAL · Posted: Sun Sep 21, 2003 8:41 pm

Sometimes I think love is just a biological urge. Other times LOVE seems like a spiritual quality. Love, unlike energy or matter, seems limitless.

Donny · Posted: Sun Sep 21, 2003 10:11 pm

Hewitt's epic comeback
September 21, 2003

THE Lleyton Hewitt of old roared back to life at Melbourne Park tonight, coming from two sets to love down to wrap up the Davis Cup semi-final against Switzerland.

In one of the greatest comebacks in Australia's long Davis Cup history, Hewitt defeated the world's player-of-the-moment, Roger Federer, 5-7 2-6 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 6-1.

The victory ended Federer's 10 match winning streak in Davis Cup matches and put Australia into a final against either Argentina or Spain.

Hewitt was down and all-but out in the third set with Federer two points away from taking the match.

But the Australian hauled himself into a tiebreaker which he won with pure determination.

He seemed to then take a psychological � and possibly a physical � advantage when Federer left the court during the break.

After five minutes in the locker room, he returned with Tennis Australia medical official Dr John Fraser ominously behind him.

The impeccably high standard displayed by the world No.3 until then seemed to drop a fraction in the third set.

And Hewitt pounced.

He broke Federer's serve to lead 4-2, was broken back when serving for the set at 5-3 and then levelled the match with a spectacular tumbling volley off a ball drilled straight at his chest.

With the momentum swinging almost entirely his way, Hewitt steamrolled his way to one of his most important victories since he won Wimbledon last year.

Since then he had been troubled by injuries, a lack of form and had changed coaches.

But that was all forgotten as he leapt into the air after smashing an overhead past a hapless Federer.

"This beats the hell out of winning Wimbledon or the US Open," a delighted Hewitt said.

Collated results

Singles (Friday)

Lleyton Hewitt (Aus) bt Michel Kratochvil (Swi) 6-4 6-4 6-1

Roger Federer (Sui) bt Mark Philippoussis (Aus) 6-3 6-4 7-6 (7-3)

Doubles (Saturday)

Todd Woodbridge-Wayne Arthurs (Aus) bt Federer-Marc Rosset (Sui) 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 5-7 6-4 6-4

Reverse singles (Sunday)

Hewitt bt Federer 5-7 2-6 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 6-1

Kratochvil bt Woodbridge 6-4 retired.

Donny · Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2003 2:18 am

I agree with Fradam. This bloke is quite incredible.

I've never particularly liked him but he has amazing tenacity and spirit. He didn't just win a 5 setter. He was down 2 sets to love and 3-5 but somehow got it back to 6-6 before winning the tie breaker and the next set, 7-5, before racing through the 5th. 6-1 !!

To further put this win into perspective, Federer is the reigning Wimbledon champ and had won 10 Davis Cup matches in succession.

I remember him beating Ferrero at the end of last year to win the 'best of the best' (world's top eight) tournament. He was gone for all money but gutsed it out and won in 5 sets.

And you gotta love the Aussie larrikin spirit as he announced with unbridled emotion, "Who cares about the U.S. Open and Wimbledon when you can do THIS !!" - referring to winning a Davis Cup match in Oz - straight after his match with Federer.