Seppi stuns Hewitt in Sydney, Henin in final

SYDNEY – Italian underdog Andreas Seppi saved two match points in a stunning 4-6 7-5 7-5 win over world number four Lleyton Hewitt at the Sydney International yesterday.

Hewitt, a four times winner of the Australian Open warm-up event, led 5-3 in the second and third sets and twice served for the match only to self-destruct on each occasion. Seppi, ranked 60th in the world, fought back to win the last four games of both sets as Hewitt inexplicably fell apart, the Australian contributing 61 unforced errors to the Italian’s 27 winners.”I really should have finished it off in straight sets,” Hewitt told reporters.”I just got too defensive when I got up…I just didn’t attack him and put enough pressure on him.”Hewitt appeared to have regained his composure after losing the second set when he broke Seppi early in the final one and served for the match at 5-4.He twice got to match point but squandered both chances as the Italian reeled off the next four games to register the biggest win of his career.”This is one of my greatest days, to beat Hewitt here in Sydney, it’s a special thing for me,” said Seppi, who had to play three qualifying matches just to get into the tournament field.”He made a lot of mistakes in the match but it was also a great win for me.”Seppi will play Igor Andreev in Friday’s semi-finals after he beat fellow Russian Dmitry Tursonov 6-2 3-6 6-4.The other semi-final will be between another Russian, Nikolay Davydenko, and American James Blake Blake beat Arnaud Clement 3-6 6-1 6-4 while second seed Davydenko got a free ride into the semi-finals when Paradorn Srichaphan pulled out of their match with a thigh strain after beating Ivo Karlovic 7-6 7-6 in a delayed second round match.Paradorn was the eighth player in five days to pull out of the tournament through injury, joining Kim Clijsters, Daniela Hantuchova, Nadia Petrova, Dinari Safina, Gisela Dulko, Carlos Moya and Thomas Johansson.Hewitt had been suffering from a stomach bug earlier in the week but refused to blame his illness for the defeat.”I don’t think I was 100 percent but I’m not taking anything away from his win,” Hewitt said.”I should have won today’s match…I just wasn’t quite able to finish it off.”That’s what you’ve got to be able to do against the best players at the business end of a grand slam.”Hopefully I can learn from today’s match and turn things around next week.”While Hewitt unravelled, Justine Henin-Hardenne served notice she is back to her devastating best by thrashing Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3 6-1 to reach the women’s final.Henin-Hardenne hardly broke sweat on a hot and humid day at the Olympic tennis centre as she booked her place in Friday’s final against Francesca Schiavone, the first Italian woman to reach the Sydney final.The seventh seed has never won a WTA Tour event but made it through to her sixth final with a 6-4 6-3 win over Czech Nicole Vaidisova.”I’ve never been so relaxed on the tennis court before,” Henin-Hardenne said.”That was great, I was feeling amazing.”It felt like I hadn’t stopped playing for four months.I’m happy with the way I’m playing right now and hope I can keep it going.”Kuznetsova was unbeaten in six singles matches this year and rapidly regaining her confidence after a prolonged slump following her breakthrough win at the 2004 US Open but she found Henin-Hardenne too strong.”All the credit goes to Justine today, she played a very good game,” Kuznetsova said.”I lost some key points in the first set then she just had too much confidence in the second.”- Nampa-ReutersSeppi, ranked 60th in the world, fought back to win the last four games of both sets as Hewitt inexplicably fell apart, the Australian contributing 61 unforced errors to the Italian’s 27 winners.”I really should have finished it off in straight sets,” Hewitt told reporters.”I just got too defensive when I got up…I just didn’t attack him and put enough pressure on him.”Hewitt appeared to have regained his composure after losing the second set when he broke Seppi early in the final one and served for the match at 5-4.He twice got to match point but squandered both chances as the Italian reeled off the next four games to register the biggest win of his career.”This is one of my greatest days, to beat Hewitt here in Sydney, it’s a special thing for me,” said Seppi, who had to play three qualifying matches just to get into the tournament field.”He made a lot of mistakes in the match but it was also a great win for me.”Seppi will play Igor Andreev in Friday’s semi-finals after he beat fellow Russian Dmitry Tursonov 6-2 3-6 6-4.The other semi-final will be between another Russian, Nikolay Davydenko, and American James Blake Blake beat Arnaud Clement 3-6 6-1 6-4 while second seed Davydenko got a free ride into the semi-finals when Paradorn Srichaphan pulled out of their match with a thigh strain after beating Ivo Karlovic 7-6 7-6 in a delayed second round match.Paradorn was the eighth player in five days to pull out of the tournament through injury, joining Kim Clijsters, Daniela Hantuchova, Nadia Petrova, Dinari Safina, Gisela Dulko, Carlos Moya and Thomas Johansson.Hewitt had been suffering from a stomach bug earlier in the week but refused to blame his illness for the defeat.”I don’t think I was 100 percent but I’m not taking anything away from his win,” Hewitt said.”I should have won today’s match…I just wasn’t quite able to finish it off.”That’s what you’ve got to be able to do against the best players at the business end of a grand slam.”Hopefully I can learn from today’s match and turn things around next week.”While Hewitt unravelled, Justine Henin-Hardenne served notice she is back to her devastating best by thrashing Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3 6-1 to reach the women’s final.Henin-Hardenne hardly broke sweat on a hot and humid day at the Olympic tennis centre as she booked her place in Friday’s final against Francesca Schiavone, the first Italian woman to reach the Sydney final.The seventh seed has never won a WTA Tour event but made it through to her sixth final with a 6-4 6-3 win over Czech Nicole Vaidisova.”I’ve never been so relaxed on the tennis court before,” Henin-Hardenne said.”That was great, I was feeling amazing.”It felt like I hadn’t stopped playing for four months.I’m happy with the way I’m playing right now and hope I can keep it going.”Kuznetsova was unbeaten in six singles matches this year and rapidly regaining her confidence after a prolonged slump following her breakthrough win at the 2004 US Open but she found Henin-Hardenne too strong.”All the credit goes to Justine today, she played a very good game,” Kuznetsova said.”I lost some key points in the first set then she just had too much confidence in the second.”- Nampa-Reuters