Safin ends Hewitt dream
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-01-31 10:16

Stricken by nerves and self-doubt, Marat Safin's belief returned in the nick of time as the Russian beat Lleyton Hewitt 1-6 6-3 6-4 6-4 to win the centenary Australian Open.

Marat Safin holds up the winner's trophy following his victory over Lleyton Hewitt. Russian Safin claimed his second tennis grand slam with a four-set victory to shatter Lleyton Hewitt's Australian Open dream. [AFP]

Safin had been convinced he would lose Sunday's match after dropping the opening set and trailing 4-1 in the third when his luck suddenly turned around.

He reeled off five games in a row to take a two sets-to-one lead then broke Hewitt at the start of the fourth set and never looked back.

"This is a huge relief for me, because I didn't believe I could win," Safin said.

"I've already lost two finals here before and I started to doubt myself. I thought it was going to happen again."

Safin didn't know it at the time, but Hewitt was battling his own demons even though he was leading the match.

The Australian had made it through to his first Melbourne final the hard way, surviving two gruelling five set matches against Rafael Nadal and David Nalbandian but the effort had taken its toll.

NATIONAL PATRIOTISM

He sailed into the final on a wave of national patriotism fuelled by a never-say-die attitude but he couldn't muster the energy for one last fight when things started going wrong.

"Even when I was a set up, at no stage did I start thinking that this is just going to carry along," Hewitt said.

"His game really picked up. Once he got the momentum back he stepped it up again to another notch.

"I didn't feel like I played that badly out there, he was just too good."

There was no mistaking Hewitt's disappointment. He won the U.S. Open in 2001 and Wimbledon a year later but the Australian Open was the title he craved the most.

Hewitt wasn't even born when Mark Edmondson -- the last Australian to win the championship -- beat John Newcombe in the 1976 final but he did see Pat Cash make the final in 1988.

He decided then, aged just seven, to dedicate his life to going one step further than his childhood hero only to come up short.

"I'm sure in a couple of days I'll look back and think it's been a great achievement," he said.

"I'll have no regrets, and I've put absolutely everything into this tournament.

"I'll be able to walk out with my head held high that I've given everything. But right at the moment, I'm human and I'm disappointed."

SINGLE BREAK

Safin stunned Pete Sampras to win the 2000 U.S. Open but hadn't won a grand slam since.

Fourth seed Russia's Marat Safin lunges for a forehand during the men's singles final against third seed Australia's Lleyton Hewitt at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne January 30, 2005. [Reuters]

He lost to Thomas Johansson in the 2002 final, then was beaten by Roger Federer in last year's final when he was too exhausted to play his best after two epic semi-finals.

"It's a psychological thing," he said.

"I have to forget about the final in 2000 because everything came so easy. I've lost two finals since then and I couldn't see myself winning the grand slams anymore.

"I also lost two semi-finals because I just couldn't handle the pressure. You need to believe in yourself, and I didn't.

"So today was a great relief for me. You can win one grand slam by mistake but not two. Now I think I can win a couple more."

Safin went into the final as favourite after his heart-stopping semi-final win over the seemingly invincible Federer but he couldn't have made a worse start, conceding the opening set after just 23 minutes.

He won the second set with a single break of serve then slipped 4-1 behind in the third after controversially losing his service then calling for a trainer at the change of ends to massage his thighs.

Just when all seemed lost, the momentum suddenly changed. Hewitt was given a code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct when he aggressively pointed his finger at a baseline judge and Safin kept his cool to break him twice and win the set.

Safin served 17 of his 18 aces in the last three sets and by the fourth set he was winning most of the long rallies that Hewitt had dominated in the first set.

He grabbed the decisive break of serve in the first game of the fourth set when, during a 30-shot rally, he drew Hewitt to the net and whipped a backhand past his 23-year-old opponent and held his remaining service games without any problem to seal victory.

"I think he ran out of gas today. He saw his opportunity but when I got the break in the third set, something happened inside of him.

"He didn't believe he could win the match anymore...and that's when I started to think I could win."

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