BRISBANE, Australia // Roger Federer and Lleyton Hewitt earned three-set victories on Saturday to set up a meeting in the Brisbane International final, renewing a rivalry that stretches back into the last millennium.
Federer beat No 8-seeded Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 in a semi-final featuring just two service breaks, immediately after Hewitt’s 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 win over second-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan.
The pair of 32-year-old former world No 1s have met 26 times dating back to Hewitt’s win at Lyon in 1999. Federer leads their head-to-head record 18-8, including 16 wins in their last 17 matches, and has 17 grand slam titles to Hewitt’s two.
“We go way back,” Federer said. “My rivalry with him was pretty intense. Never nasty or anything, but just good matches.
“We’re total opposite from one another the way we play ... I think that’s why it’s always an interesting matchup for both of us.”
Hewitt is coming back from long-term foot and toe injuries, is ranked in the 60s and is into his first final on home soil since losing the Australian Open decider to Marat Safin in 2005 – the last time he went beyond the semi-finals at a major tournament.
The last time they met in a final, Hewitt broke Federer’s streak of 15 wins in head-to-heads with a comeback victory in three sets at Halle in 2010. That was the last of Hewitt’s 28 career titles. Federer has won 77 titles, the last being at Halle last year.
“You want to play against the best players, and obviously Roger and I have a good history and a lot of tough matches in the past in slams and Davis Cups and everything,” Hewitt said. “We’re the same age. We grew up together. He’s a great guy. I have the upmost respect for him, not only as a player but for what he does off the court as well.”
Hewitt handled the heat better than his Japanese opponent as the temperatures topped 40°C, and his grinding style paid dividends as the match extended to two-and-a-half hours.
“I love a battle,” said Hewitt, who won the US Open in 2001 and Wimbledon in 2002 and spent 80 weeks at No 1 before Federer assumed the top ranking and held onto it for four-and-a-half years. “Mentally this is a major win to have come back and gone the distance.”
Federer said he struggled against Hewitt earlier in his career before getting on top in the rivalry. Now both married with kids, they are occasional practice partners and get on well.
Both players have reflected on a Davis Cup semi-final between Australia and Switzerland at Rod Laver Arena in 2003 as the turning point in their rivalry, and in Federer’s career. Hewitt rallied from two sets and a breakdown to win that match, but it still changed Federer’s mindset for the better.
“I was ... serving for the match, ended up losing 6-1 in the fifth,” Federer recalled. “It really proved to me that I could play great tennis not just for a set, two sets, but three sets or maybe even longer against the toughest guys out there.
“And for me to be able to not just do it tennis-wise but physically and mentally gave me the big belief that I could hang with the best – then I went on a run like I did.”
In the women’s draw, world No 1 Serena Williams stamped herself as favourite for the Australian Open when she beat Victoria Azarenka in the final of the Brisbane International.
In what could be a dress rehearsal for the Melbourne decider, Williams won a close first set then edged Azarenka in the second to win 6-4, 7-5 in 98 minutes.
Williams, the defending champion in Brisbane, just shaded Azarenka throughout, with her powerful serve proving the main difference between the world’s two top players.
Williams broke Azarenka once in the first set. Although she lost her serve twice in the second, she broke Azarenka three times to seal a victory.
The win was Williams’s 14th over Azarenka in 17 meetings, and stamps her as the player to beat in Melbourne this month.
The world No 1 had four testing matches in Brisbane, against Andrea Petkovic, Dominika Cibulkova, Maria Sharapova and Azarenka, and said that the tournament was perfect preparation for the first grand slam tournament of 2014.
“It was a great test, it showed me where my level was, and I feel like I definitely have some room for improvement and things that I want to improve on going into Melbourne, and things I have to improve on if I want to win,” she said.
“I’m happy I was able to play both Maria and Victoria, because they brought their A games against me. I know now what I need to do for Melbourne. I look forward to it.”
Williams warned that the win over Azarenka in Brisbane would count for little if they were to meet in the Australian Open final.
“I feel like if I were to play Victoria in the final, if I get to the final, it’s a new match,” she said. “Obviously I’ll have a little confidence, but at the same time, we both start at zero-zero.”
Azarenka conceded afterwards that she had been outplayed on the key points.
“I think it was a pretty solid match,” she said. “There was a little bit, you know, a few errors in some important moments.
“But Serena played a great match. She was better today in the important moments, and she took her chance.”
Azarenka said she would take a lot of positives into the Australian Open, where she is the defending champion.
“I’m a perfectionist. I want to play better, I want to win,” she said. “I can’t say I’m satisfied today, but I want to take the positive, what I’ve done today, and build from here towards the next week.
“This is the first week where you really test yourself, where your game is at, and from here you can take the positives and the things that you have to work on and really go after that.”
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