Hewitt Has the Right Formula

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By Alex Kennison

Lleyton Hewitt became the first player since John McEnroe in 1981 to win three consecutive Stella Artois Championships with a three-set win over Britain's Tim Henman.

In a repeat of the 2001 final at The Queen's Club, Hewitt had to come back from a set down once again before winning 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 in 2 hours, 12 minutes.

"It's great," said Hewitt. "I've seen the photos of the past champions on the walls and there's some great players. To have my name alongside them is a great honour, and to do it three times is even better."

Hewitt, who had not dropped a set all week en route to the final, got off to a slow start against Henman, the second seed who was playing in his third final at Queen's. Having lost his opening service game without winning a point, Hewitt struck back immediately to get back on level terms. As the first set went on, both players began to grow in confidence, and it was Henman who made the breakthrough in the seventh game with his attacking game.

Concentration

As Henman served for the set, he had to overcome loud cheers from behind the courts as Ireland's World Cup second round match against Spain reached the penalty shootout. But the Briton kept his nerve to save two break points and clinch the opening set in 53 minutes.

It was a different story in the second set, however, as Hewitt began to convert his opportunities, and raced into a 5-0 lead. Two games later, the Australian had levelled the match and was looking strong going into the decider. Once again, it was the seventh game that proved crucial, as Hewitt broke serve for the fourth time in the match to take a 4-3 lead with his trademark passing shots, and shortly afterwards, held serve to love as another forehand from Henman went wide to seal a famous victory.

"I got off to a bad start, but after the first set, I started to take my chances and I got better and better after that," said Hewitt. "To have a win against Tim, who's one of the favourites for Wimbledon and one of the best grass court players in the world, my confidence has got even higher."

Hewitt, who has now won 15 consecutive matches at Queen's and has a 19-2 record overall, captured his fourth grass court title with victories over Mardy Fish, Olivier Rochus, Todd Martin and Sjeng Schalken.

Disappointing

For Henman, it was another disappointing way to end what had been a good week for the local favourite but gave his opponent all the credit.

"He's the best player in the world, it's as simple as that," said Henman, who is yet to beat Hewitt in five attempts. "He's able to play that type of tennis day-in, day-out, week-in, week-out. He's a phenomenal competitor, and I'm unfortunate to have seen it up at close quarters."

Henman, who reached the finals with wins over Neville Godwin, Robby Ginepri, Hyung-Taik Lee and Raemon Sluiter, added: "When you win four matches in a week, it's got to be good. But that doesn't mean I'm not disappointed right now."

Black-Ullyett Capture Doubles Crown

Wayne Black and Kevin Ullyett captured the doubles title at the Stella Artois Championships for the first time with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi at The Queen's Club.

Black and Ullyett, the fourth seeds who won the US Open title last year, have now won six titles as a partnership and three this year after winning in Adelaide and San Jose.

"It's very special," said Black. "This is a really important tournament for us to win. I've watched these finals for a lot of years. It's got a great history, and I can't believe I've won it this year."
Looking ahead to the rest of the grass court season, Ullyett added: "We've won a few matches on grass now, so we'll be full of confidence going into Wimbledon."

To win the tournament, Black had to defeat his brother Byron in the second round, who was playing with Robbie Koenig, before getting a walkover into the final when David Adams and Wayne Ferreira withdrew when Ferreira suffered a back injury.

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