2005 Australian Open - Day #14
By Eleanor Preston  |  January 30, 2005

The 100th of the Australian Open may not have been marked with a home grown champion but for those not born in the place known as ‘the Lucky Country’, there was still plenty to celebrate in Marat Safin’s 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win over Lleyton Hewitt.
 
After overcoming a wretched, nerve-jangled start, Safin set about walloping Hewitt with a combination of fierce serving and powerful, penetrating groundstrokes. He never quite hit the heights that were required to beat Roger Federer in the semi-finals but it was enough to spoil Hewitt’s fairytale.
 
The Australian must have himself to blame after he romped through the first set from a nervous Safin and the break he gained in the third after the Russian had levelled the match would have buoyed his spirits again. In the end, though Hewitt was overpowered and, certainly in the fourth set, appeared too tired and sore to mount one of his famous fight backs.
 
“He really stepped it up and he’s a good enough player to keep calm and not let things get to him,” said Hewitt. “He definitely won the match. I didn’t lose it. He’s an awesome player, and even when I was a set up at no stage did I think it would carry on like that. His game really picked up, then I got the momentum back but he stepped it up another notch again. Some of his hitting from the back of the court was pretty incredible. I didn’t feel like I played that badly out there – he was just the better player.”
 
For men’s tennis, Safin’s win could not have come at a better time for as much as Federer’s dominance has been fascinating to watch, the return of the charismatic, handsome Safin to the top of the game can only be good for interest in the sport. His charming acceptance speech was a fine example of how engaging he can be and the way he cheekily thanked Hewitt’s support group before his own made even Hewitt smile, no mean feat given the disappointment the Australian must have been feeling.
 
“Thanks group, well done parents, coach, girlfriend,” said Safin with a grin as he pointed towards Hewitt’s supporters, before bantering with the crowd and winning yet more friends in the Rod Laver Arena, which had seen him lose two previous Australian Open finals, in 2002 and 2004.
 
The victory in Melbourne was Safin’s first grand slam title since his rip-snorting rout of Pete Sampras in the US Open final in 2000, when he was just 20, and put him closer to displacing Andy Roddick at No.3 in the world, behind Hewitt and Federer.
 
Hewitt’s pain at missing his chance to become the first Australian since Mark Edmondson in 1976 to lift his home grand slam trophy will sting for some time, but he has little to berate himself for after a series of typically stoic performances to get to the final.
 
The hip injury he sustained in Sydney in the week before the tournament was certainly troubling him during his five-set wins over Rafael Nadal and David Nalbandian and yet he came through both matches and somehow had enough puff left to defeat Andy Roddick in the semis. He thrilled his supporters with his extraordinary competitiveness, fired endless debate with his on court antics and made great television, and there seems no doubt that his time in Melbourne will come.
 
“In a couple of days I’ll be able to see that I’ve had a great tournament, that it’s a great achievement to make the final but right at the moment I’m human and I’m disappointed,” said Hewitt. “To have come so close, to have trained so hard and to have put myself in the position...it’s hard to take.”
 
Safin was certainly full of admiration. “You are such a great fighter, you have an amazing talent that God gave you to fight,” he told him, much to the crowd’s delight. “You deserve their applause.”
 
Hewitt gave a gracious and respectful speech, thanking his family and making a point of pouring praise on his coach Roger Rasheed, whom Hewitt believes has been unfairly criticised in the Australian media. Hewitt drew a few raised eyebrows when he thanked the line judges just an hour or so after screaming at one unfortunate who foot-faulted him, an outburst which earned him a warning for unsportsmanlike conduct. If ever there was an example of the two sides of Hewitt’s public persona that was it.
 
The phrase he chose to congratulate Safin was pure Aussie, a sign that he is the proudest of patriots even in disappointment.
 
“Hell of a tournament mate.”
 
A day after celebrating an American women’s champion in Serena Williams, US tennis had more reason to feel optimistic about the future when 15-year-old Donald Young, from Chicago, became the youngest ever junior grand slam champion and the youngest ever junior World No.1 by winning the Australian Open boys’ trophy.
 
Young beat current boys’ World No.1, Sun-Yong Kim from Korea 6-2, 6-4 to take his place in junior tennis history, but his idea of how to celebrate a grand slam title could use a little work.
 
“I’m not really sure but my mom and dad wanted to go to the Casino in Melbourne but I’m not old enough to get in so there’s no point,” said Young, much to his parents’ embarrassment. “I’ll just sit outside I guess.”

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