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THE
SCOOP: TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25
Hewitt
lead Aussies in the bizarre world of the Davis Cup
By
Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net
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Susan
Mullane
Camerawork USA, Inc.
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It's
now time to bestow the nickname "Rock" on Lleyton Hewitt.
Not "Rocky", as he calls himself, but Rock, as Andre
Agassi and his fellow American Davis Cuppers used to call U.S.
Davis Cup legend Jim Courier, who played with about as much heart
as anyone ever has especially when competing for his country.
Behind
Hewitt's gritty play, Australia advanced to its third consecutive
Davis Cup final with a tough 4-1 win over Sweden in Sydney. After
Thomas Johansson had upended Patrick Rafter 3-6, 6-7(8), 6-3,
6-2, 6-3 and put a scare into the Aussies, Hewitt took out the
talented Jonas Bjorkman 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(5),
7-6(2).
On
Saturday, Wayne Arthurs/Todd Woodbridge edged Jonas Bjorkman/Magnus
Larsson 6-7(3), 7-6(2), 7-6(5), 7-6(3), setting the stage for
the clincher, when Hewitt wore down Johansson 7-6(3), 5-7, 6-2,
6-1.
The
mates have vowed to win this Cup for the veteran Rafter, who has
never played in a final. If it wasn't for the boy wonder Hewitt,
Rafter might
have never had the chance. Despite having just won the U.S. Open
and then
having to fly across the world for the tie, Hewitt said he felt
spry. "I've
been moving unbelievable at this stage of the year. … The hard
work is
starting to pay off, and it feels good," said Hewitt.
The
Aussies now will play host to France in a repeat of the '99 Davis
Cup
final, Nov. 30-Dec. 2 in Melbourne. France swept the Netherlands,
getting
excellent performances out of Arnaud Clement, Nicolas Escude (an
8-6 in the
fifth winner over Sjeng Schalken) and the creaky but effective
doubles duo of
Cedric Pioline/Fabrice Santoro. Should Sebastien Grosjean recover
physically
by Cup time, the Aussies will have their hands full. Recall that
Clement is
an '01 Aussie Open finalist.
QUALIFYING
BRINGS STRANGE RESULTS
In
the Who Would Have Thunk It Division, courtesy of the bizarre
world of
Davis Cup play, check out these results in D.C. qualifying: Morocco's
Younes
El Aynaoui beating red-hot Belgian Xavier Malisse 6-3 6-4 6-4
in Liege,
keying Morocco's 3-2 win; Britain's Greg Rusedski downing Ecuador's
Nicolas Lapentti 2-6, 6-2,7-5, 6-3 on clay in Guayaquil; and Asian
military
superpower China losing 4-1 to Asian military No. 1 contender
Indonesia.
It's
now offical: China and it's 2.5 billion people are tennis-challenged.
BOMBING
IN FRANCE CANCELS TOURNEY
Lost
in the massive coverage that surrounded the bombing of the World
Trade Centers was the fact that the Open de Toulouse, which was
to begin
Sept. 24, was canceled, after an explosion at a nearby petrochemical
plant
badly damaged the tournament site.
PHILIPPOUSSIS
TO TEST KNEE
Former
U.S. Open finalist and top-10er Mark Philippoussis will return
to
play this week in Hong Kong after a six month absence due to his
umpteenth
knee injury. Flipper had told tennisreporters.net
earlier this year that he was going to go all out this year in
attempt to win his first Slam title and reach the
year-end top-five. He certainly has the talent to do so, but the
big guy has
suffered a serious injury every year for the past three years
and with his
huge frame, the prospect of a full recovery is doubtful. The 24-year-old
may
have to change his all-court game to being more of a serve-and-volleyer
so as
to avoid having his opponents pull him around the back court and
expose his
less than stellar movement.
NO.
1 QUESTION
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Susan
Mullane
Camerawork USA, Inc.
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Who
will finish the year as the men's No. 1? Guga? Andre? Lleyton?
Just like last year, the Masters Series events in Stuttgart and
Paris loom large and it is quite possible the No. 1 won't be decided
until the Masters Cup in Sydney. After No. 2 Agassi disappeared
in the first round of Shanghai and
knowing that his bride-to-be, Steffi Graf, will deliver their
first child in December, you can't like the Las Vegan's chances.
No. 3 Hewitt has all the momentum right now but has to make up
120 points to catch Guga, no easy task.
After
his awful loss to Yevgeny Kafelnikov in New York, expect Kuerten
to try to redeem himself in Europe.
OBITUARY:
ISSAC STERN
tennisreporters.net
salutes
Master Violinist Issac Stern, who passed away on Saturday at the
age of 80. Stern was a big-time tennis fan.
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