Hewitt Claims Fourth Stella Artois Title
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© Getty ImagesLleyton Hewitt
Lleyton Hewitt claimed his fourth title at the Stella Artois Championships after defeating American James Blake 6-4, 6-4 in the final. The Australian took just 66 minutes to join John McEnroe and Boris Becker as the only players to have won at The Queen’s Club on four occasions.
It was the first title for Hewitt since he won Sydney in January 2005, and avenged his loss to Blake in the Las Vegas final earlier this year, his only loss against the American in seven meetings. “It’s fantastic,” said the 25-year-old. “This place has always been pretty special to me, I always love coming here year after year and to win it for the fourth time feels great.”
Hewitt won three consecutive titles at The Queen’s Club between 2000-02, before Andy Roddick took over the reigns by winning the next three Stella Artois Championships.
Roddick’s 18-match unbeaten run was brought to an end by Blake in Saturday’s semifinals, but the American could not maintain his impressive form in the championship decider.
In front of a packed Centre Court crowd, Hewitt made a blistering start to the final, breaking Blake in the opening game of the match and dropped just one point on his own serve – that being a double fault – in his first three service games. However, Blake showed signs of mounting a recovery from 5-2 down in the first set, as he broke Hewitt to love with three consecutive backhand winners.
Hewitt eventually claimed the first set in 32 minutes, and the second went with serve until the seventh game, when the Australian’s persistent pressure eventually took its toll on Blake.
With Hewitt serving for the match at 5-4, Blake had a glimour of hope at 0-30, but the No. 5 seed failed to take advantage as Hewitt claimed his 25th career title with a service winner.
“I felt like I played pretty flawless tennis for most of it,” said Hewitt, who made 85 percent first serves in the second set. “I was pretty happy with the way that I struck the ball. I served really well and put pressure on his serve as much as possible.”
He added: “This is the first title I've obviously won since being married and having Mia. So it's nice to have them here with me, that's for sure.”
Despite the disappointment, Blake gave credit to his opponent. “He served great,” said Blake. “Didn't give me any freebies really. And I think to beat him you really got to control the points, and I wasn't able to do that because he was getting on the offensive before I was. So difficult. My serve wasn't quite as good as it was yesterday. I wasn't able to attack him, so he did what he does best.”