Aussies: Just Unputdownable

Lleyton Hewitt led Australia to a heroic 3-2 victory in their Davis Cup semi-final against Switzerland on Sunday, recovering from two sets d...

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Lleyton Hewitt led Australia to a heroic 3-2 victory in their Davis Cup semi-final against Switzerland on Sunday, recovering from two sets down to beat Wimbledon champion Roger Federer in an enthralling battle.

Australia will play either Spain or Argentina in the November final after Hewitt produced a stunning comeback in the first of the reverse singles when Federer was serving for the match at 5-3 in the third set.

Beaten Swiss salutes Hewitt’s fighting spirit

MELBOURNE: Wimbledon champion Roger Federer and his Swiss captain Marc Rosset praised Lleyton Hewitt’s fighting qualities after the Australian’s remarkable comeback win.

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Federer, who said he had treatment on his “heavy legs” after the third set against Hewitt, paid credit to his opponent. “He fought hard and won the match. It’s a great achievement and I can only congratulate him. I’m obviously not so happy with the last two sets but I think I was playing great tennis for three sets. It just wasn’t enough but I was very, very close,” Federer said.

Rosset was also clearly disappointed with the defeat but in awe of Hewitt’s comeback. “To be two sets to love down against one of the best players in the world, you have to have respect for what he did today. That’s why Davis Cup is really special because I think in a normal tournament, it would have been more difficult for him. But with 12,000 people behind him and the whole country…I think that he gets really pumped at the end of the match,” Rosset told a news conference.

Hewitt won 5-7, 2-6, 7-6, 7-5, 6-1 to put Australia 3-1 up, breaking the world number three’s serve twice in the fifth set as Federer began to tire in his third match in three days.

Australia’s Todd Woodbridge retired in the fifth rubber after losing the first set 4-6 to Michel Kratochvil.

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“This beats the hell out of winning the (2001) US Open and (2002) Wimbledon, I tell you right now,” said Hewitt, who was carried off the court by Australian captain John Fitzgerald after his 211-minute match.

“This is an incredible feeling. He was pretty much unstoppable in that second set. I really had to dig deep,” added Hewitt, who hit an overhead smash winner to close the rubber and slumped to his knees in delight.

“Even when I was 5-3 down in the third set, I was just telling myself to hang in there. I felt like I’d be the fitter player and in the end it paid off.”

Hewitt said he had been inspired by Pat Cash’s comeback from two sets down to beat Sweden’s Mikael Pernfors and lead Australia to victory in the 1986 Davis Cup final.

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“I know every single shot in that match. I watched it on the Pat Cash video when I was very young,” Hewitt said. “I looked up to that guy and I looked up to one day being in that situation. This is a dream.”

Hewitt, 22, has failed to get to the semi-finals in any of the four Grand Slam tournaments this year but said he could not be happier. “A lot of people have wanted to have a go at my form or whatever. This should shut everyone up,” he said.

Federer, needing a victory to keep the tie alive for Switzerland, served for the match at 5-3 in the third set but the determined Hewitt broke back and forced a tie-break which he won 7-4 on his second set point.

Federer took a break off court then made two successive errors in the fourth set to drop serve and go down 2-4.

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Serving again at 5-6 to stay in the fourth set, Federer was pushed to deuce and served a double fault before Hewitt hit an off-balance backhand volley winner to take the set.

Wayne Arthurs and Woodbridge ground out an exciting five-set victory over Federer and Swiss captain Marc Rosset on Saturday to give Australia a 2-1 lead. The hosts squeezed home 4-6, 7-6, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 in a doubles encounter that lasted three hours 17 minutes. (Reuters)