Fighting Hewitt Claims Back-To-Back Tennis Masters Cup Crowns
Champion: Lleyton Hewitt.
Lleyton Hewitt confirmed his status as a deserving back-to-back year-end World No.1 by winning a dramatic five-set final against Juan Carlos Ferrero at Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai in 2002. After letting slip a two-sets lead, Hewitt was forced to claw back from 1-3 in the fifth set to win 7-5, 7-5, 2-6, 2-6, 6-4 to defend the title he won last year in Sydney. Hewitt's riveting victory was played out before a capacity crowd of 9,500 at the New Shanghai International Expo Center, with appreciative Chinese fans bursting into several Mexican Waves throughout the match.
Hewitt collected $1.4 million for the victory, and now, at just 21, has taken his career earnings to within a few thousand dollars of the $10 million mark.
Hewitt won his fifth title of the year, but his first since Wimbledon in early July. He went the distance in all four matches he won during the tournament, beating Albert Costa and Marat Safin in three sets in the round-robin group, Roger Federer in three sets in the semifinals, and Ferrero in five sets in the final. His one loss against Carlos Moya in the round-robin was in straight sets. Both finalists played eight sets in two days, with Ferrero having also taken three sets to beat Moya in Saturday's semifinals.
During round-robin play, Hewitt became just the seventh player in ATP history to finish the year No.1 in consecutive seasons.
Additionally, Hewitt became only the fourth man to rank No.1 in the ATP Entry System every week for a full calendar year. By winning the title Sunday, Hewitt became the first player since Pete Sampras (ATP World Championships, 1996-97) to win the season-ending championship in consecutive years, and just the seventh player overall to achieve the feat.
Hewitt, who defeated Ferrero the last time they met in the semifinals of Tennis Masters Cup Sydney, ensured that the year-end World No.1 won the Tennis Masters Cup for the third consecutive year. (Gustavo Kuerten triumphed at Tennis Masters Cup Lisboa in 2000, claiming the No.1 ranking when he defeated Andre Agassi in the final.)
Hewitt takes home a check for $1.4 million, which boosts his career prize money to $9,996,134. He also drives away in a new, fully-optioned Mercedes-Benz CLK320. Hewitt this week leaped six places on the all-time money list to 17th place. Interestingly, one player Hewitt leapfrogged was Jimmy Connors, who played until he was 39 to earn more than $8.5 million.
In a gripping final, Ferrero began strongly and claimed a 5-3 lead. But Hewitt reeled off seven consecutive games to take the first set 7-5 and set up a decisive lead in the second set, which he would go on to win. Ferrero hit back with a double break in the third set, which he took 6-2, and repeated the dose in the fourth set. Ferrero had the advantage at the beginning of the fifth set when, after three consecutive breaks, he led 2-1. But Hewitt made it four breaks in six games when he leveled the set at 3-3. Soon after he broke Ferrero at 5-4 to claim victory.
Despite the loss, Ferrero ends the season in fourth place in the ATP Champions Race - his highest year-end ranking. He finished fifth last season and is the first Spaniard since Sergi Bruguera in 1993-94 to finish in the Top 5 in back-to-back seasons.
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